Relentless Russian attacks on Ukrainian positions defending the strategically important eastern town of Chasiv Yar are disrupting troop rotations and the delivery of some supplies, soldiers in the area say.
Russian troops are seeking to press their advantage in troop numbers and weaponry before Ukrainian forces are bolstered by promised new Western military aid that is already trickling to the front line, analysts say.
The Kremlin's military has been striking civilian targets just as hard, using powerful glide bombs that obliterate buildings and leave massive craters. Its months-long campaign to cripple Ukraine's electricity supply aims to weaken public morale and deny energy to Ukraine's growing arms industry.
These attacks on civilian infrastructure led to arrest warrants on Tuesday from the International Criminal Court for former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and military chief of staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov, for alleged war crimes. Judges said there is evidence they "intentionally caused great suffering or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health" of Ukrainian civilians.
For Ukrainian soldiers defending the eastern Donetsk region, the Russian ground assaults and aerial bombardments allow little respite after more than two years of war.
"We work, you could say, without rest," said a platoon commander who identified himself only as Oleksandr in line with his brigade's rules. "So no two days are alike. You always need to be ready to work day and night."
His platoon is part of Ukraine's 43rd Artillery Brigade. It rushes to positions and quickly fires a Soviet-era Pion self-propelled howitzer at Russian targets before it can be targeted in return.
Holding Chasiv Yar is crucial. The town, highly coveted due to its strategic location and elevated position but now largely in ruins, lies west of neighboring Bakhmut, which Russia captured last year after a 10-month battle.
Ukraine is racing to stabilize parts of the roughly 620-mile front line after badly needed military assistance was approved by the United States in April. A six-month delay in U.S. aid had put Ukraine's military on the defensive.
Members of the artillery brigade in Chasiv Yar reported that supplies of American ammunition had started to arrive. The U.S. is expected to announce an additional $150 million in critically needed munitions this week, and the first shipment of ammunition under a Czech initiative has been delivered.
Separately, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke by phone with Russian Minister of Defense Andrei Belousov, emphasizing the importance of maintaining communication channels amid the war. It was their first conversation since March 2023.
The Czechs are seeking to acquire at least 800,000 artillery shells from outside the EU that Ukraine desperately needs, as the war has depleted stockpiles across Europe, the U.S., and Russia.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said it will take time for the effects of the new Western weaponry to be felt on the front line. In the meantime, it said, "Russian forces are attempting to make tactically and operationally significant gains" before it arrives.
Elsewhere, the Kremlin's forces kept up their barrages of civilian infrastructure, with three aerial strikes in the northeastern Kharkiv region on Tuesday, though no one was injured. Russia has pounded Kharkiv in recent months, apparently to draw some Ukrainian forces away from defending Donetsk while trying to create a buffer zone to prevent cross-border Ukrainian attacks.
In other developments, Russia and Ukraine each released 90 war prisoners in a swap mediated by the United Arab Emirates. Moscow responded to the EU's suspension of Russian media broadcasts by banning 81 European outlets from broadcasting in Russia.
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