Fighting in Eastern Ukraine Heats Up, Kyiv Calls Russia Using Scorched Earth Tactics

JAKARTA - Russian troops have stepped up their attacks on frontline cities in eastern Ukraine, as news circulated that Ukraine has changed some of its counterattack plans following the leak of classified US documents.

Russia was pounding Ukrainian positions around the besieged Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region and other cities with airstrikes and artillery barrages, Kyiv said.

"The enemy is turning to the so-called scorched earth tactics in Syria. They are destroying buildings and positions with airstrikes and artillery fire," Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, said of Bakhmut.

The small town, now mostly destroyed on the edge of the Russian-controlled region of Donetsk, has become the biggest battleground of the war.

The head of the Moscow-controlled Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, said that Russian forces now control 75 percent of the city.

Apart from Bakhmut, the Moscow military also targeted the city of Avdiivka.

"Russia has turned Avdiivka into utter ruin," said Pavlo Kyrylenko, regional governor of Donetsk, describing Monday's airstrike that destroyed a multi-storey building.

"Overall, around 1,800 people live in Avdiivka, all of whom risk their lives every day," he said.

As well as pounding Avdiivka, Russian troops also targeted the towns of Maryinka and Kranohorivka to the southwest, as well as Vuhledar, a hilltop town that has been the target of Russian attacks for several weeks, the Ukrainian general staff said.

In Chasiv Yar, the first major town west of Bakhmut, few buildings remained intact and local residents lining up to collect food and other relief did not even flinch at the sound of the artillery.

"It used to be scary, but now we are used to it. You don't even notice," says 50-year-old humanitarian volunteer Maksym.

Syrskyi said Moscow sent special forces and air units to assist their assault on Bakhmut because members of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which was spearheading Bakhmut's assault, were running out of steam.

Donetsk is one of four provinces in eastern and southern Ukraine that Russia declared annexation last year, seeking to completely occupy the region in what appears to be a shift in its war aims, having failed to overrun the country following its invasion in February 2022.

Meanwhile, taking Bakhmut could allow Russia to directly target the Ukrainian defensive line at Chasiv Yar and pave the way for its troops to advance on the two major cities in the Donetsk region – Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.