Ukraine war latest: Kyiv army chief says eastern front has ‘significantly worsened’ as Putin steps up attacks
Kyiv’s military chief has said that Ukraine’s battlefield situation in the industrial east had “significantly worsened in recent days”, as Russia increase their attacks.
Analysts for the Institute for the Study of War have warned that delays in Western military assistance would increasingly hamper their ability to fight back against Russian advances.
It comes as sixteen people were killed in the Russian-held town of Tokmak in the southern Zaporizhzhia region after it was shelled by the Ukrainian military.
Yevgeny Balitsky, the region’s top official, said on Telegram that the shelling on Friday night also injured at least 20 people, 12 of them seriously.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday its forces had captured Pervomaiske, a village in the Donetsk region where Moscow has focused its offensive for months.
Meanwhile, Switzerland announced it would host a conference in June to help chart a path for peace in Ukraine after over two years of fighting.
But Vladimir Putin said a peace process couldn’t happen without Russia.
