The Ukrainian military continues to hold its ground in the face of Russia’s relentless assault on the eastern city of Avdiivka, Volodymyr Zelensky, as the battle intensified for a third day. Russia has moved a large armoured column of three battalions, including some 2,000 troops, dozens of armoured vehicles and jets into the northern flank of the Avdiivka front for what has been described as the biggest military offensive in months. The Ukrainian forces said they repelled more than 20 attacks by the Russian army in Avdiivka and the surrounding regions in the past 24 hours, in what was described as a blow to Moscow’s attempts to use the offensive to show the tide of the war turning in its favour. Mr Zelensky said: “Avdiivka. We are holding our ground. It is Ukrainian courage and unity that will determine how this war will end. We must all remember this.” Municipal officials said the Russian attacks were relentless and the enemy was attacking from all sides. Vitaliy Barabash, head of the city military administration, told Ukrainian television: "The enemy does not stop storming, they come from all directions." Ukrainian Special Operations Forces said Kyiv’s troops had "foiled the plans of the crazed enemy, repelled all attacks and held their positions". Avdiivka holds significant strategic importance for Russia, serving as the crucial gateway to Donetsk, the primary communication hub within the occupied territories. To gain a foothold in occupied Donbas, the Kremlin aims to shift the front line away from Donetsk. In 2022, Russian forces initiated an offensive against Avdiivka, attempting to encircle the city deeply from both sides. This offensive was halted and the region has become a symbol of resistance, holding out against Russian troops ever since. "On average, there are 50-60 instances of intense shelling with artillery and rockets targeting the town," said Mr Barabash. "As for military positions, they get hit at least 500-600 times a day." Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern group of forces, said Russia saw Avdiivka as an opportunity to win a significant victory and "turn the tide of fighting". "Today the capture or encirclement of Avdiivka is probably the most it can achieve at this stage," he said. Geolocated footage of the area showed Russia had advanced in some villages southwest and northwest of Avdiivka this week, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American non-profit research group and think-tank. Around 64 clashes have been reported in the last 24 hours involving 4 missile attacks, 65 airstrikes and around 54 attacks using multiple launch rocket systems on Ukrainian troops and various settlements, the general staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in an update on Facebook. In the latest overnight attacks, Russia intensified strikes on Danube River ports in the southern Odesa region that have become Kyiv’s main route for food exports since Moscow quit a deal allowing shipments via the Black Sea in July. A military spokesperson said Russia had hit a grain storage facility in the Odesa region and some grain had been damaged but did not say how much. It comes amid fears that Moscow will intensify attacks on power infrastructure to freeze Ukrainians as winter sets in in the repeat of events from last winter. Read More IOC bans Russian Olympic Committee for including annexed Ukraine territories French police probe ‘poisoning’ of TV journalist who denounced Putin’s war live on air Ukraine-Russia war – live: IOC bans Russian Olympic Committee for including annexed territories The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

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“I wouldn’t say I’m a masochist, no.” It’s a reassuring start from Chris Eubank Jr, as he reflects on his defeat by Liam Smith – the first stoppage loss of his career, and an experience he says he enjoyed. “Imagine being in a sport your entire life, thinking you’ve experienced every single thing there is, then something new happens at 33 years old,” the Briton explains to The Independent, as his rematch with Smith looms. “I’ve been fighting since I was 14, and I’ve never been buzzed like that, or had to get up, recuperate, march forward, then go back down again, get back up. I never would’ve imagined that I’d be in a position where a referee could stop a fight for me. “So, it was new, it was crazy. Looking back on it, it was exciting. It was a huge adrenalin rush, probably the same amount of adrenalin as I would get from knocking a guy out.” Twice Eubank Jr hauled himself off the canvas in the fourth round at Manchester’s AO Arena, his body moving almost gelatinously as his brain tried to recentre him, before Victor Loughlin waved off the bout. Eubank Jr will hope he does not have to feel that same canvas against his knees and elbows on Saturday when he returns to the AO Arena for a middleweight rematch with Smith. “It has to change how I think, feel, and how I approach fights,” he says. “You have to learn. I have a new mindset on going into fights and protecting myself at all times, making sure I don’t get hit flush. We have to do everything in our power to make sure we’re never in that position again.” That said, “I feel like I dealt with it well,” Eubank Jr adds. “A lot of fighters... when they get hurt, you see the real side of them. A lot back down, a lot look for ways out. Everyone saw that night, I was ready to go out on my shield. I was ready to die in there. ‘Let’s keep going,’ that’s what I said when the going got tough. I think the fans appreciated seeing that side of me.” Never before had Eubank Jr touched the canvas, let alone been stopped, and once the “excitement” subsided, he was left to deal with a different emotion. “I wasn’t upset, disappointed; I was pissed off,” he recalls. “It wasn’t like I got my ass kicked for three rounds and then got knocked out; I was dominating the fight, then I made a mistake and got caught. I was pissed off at myself, pissed off at the referee for not giving me the chance to continue. Whether he was right or wrong, as a grizzled veteran I don’t feel the need to be saved by a referee. “[But] when I watched the replay back in the changing room, I said to everybody: ‘I’ll take that.’ As in, if I was ever gonna get stopped, that’s the way I’d want it: on my feet, demanding they let me continue. I can accept that, I can sleep at night. I couldn’t sleep at night if I’m getting the 10 count and I can’t get up, or if I’m telling the referee, ‘No, [I can’t continue]’.” As well as mentioning referee Loughlin, Eubank Jr has cited an alleged elbow by Smith as proving decisive in the fight’s final sequence. Still, he maintains that these are not excuses, while Smith, 35, has revelled in his victory. “I enjoyed every bit of it,” Smith told The Independent in July. “It was a great week, I wish I could have that week back, it was a great week.” The Liverpudlian also said the prickly build-up to their first fight existed because the boxers just “wouldn’t get on” in normal life. But Eubank Jr, for his part, says: “Just because I fought him, doesn’t mean I know who he is as a man. He might be a great guy. I don’t know and I don’t need to know, that’s not part of my job; my job is to know who he is as a fighter and exploit that or deal with that. I think he is exploitable, he does get riled up, I can get into his head. I’m not here to be buddies or pals with people, I’m here to take guys out. I’m here to create a legacy, and he’s put a serious bump in that road for me; I need to smoothen it out.” That legacy has always been a complicated one, given the memories that Eubank Jr’s father gave to British boxing fans. Still, its ending is unwritten, and it is still in Eubank Jr’s control – for now. “There’s so many huge fights left for me to have,” he says. “There’s so much left for me to achieve. We have to see if I can do the things I say I can do. First and foremost, I have to beat Liam Smith; it’s not a great legacy if I finish my career with two losses to Liam on my record. That would for sure damage any type of ‘great’ legacy. Knowing that, it’s hugely important that I avenge this loss. I can explain a freak accident – it happens; I can get away with one loss to Liam, I can’t get away with two.” However Eubank Jr’s in-ring endeavours are ultimately judged, one thing seems certain: his personality and words outside the ring will see him remembered as one of the most divisive boxers of his generation. “It’s part of selling a fight, it’s part of beating your opponent,” Eubank Jr says. “You’ve got to win every fight – verbal, mental, physical. I’ve become very good at that over the years. I understand it’s part of the sport if you want to be ‘box office’. The guys that don’t talk, don’t have an opinion or aren’t able to express themselves to the fans and to their opponents, they don’t get airtime or headlines. You need those things to make money, I’ve learnt that from the very beginning, watching my old man. “As I got older, my old man took more and more steps back, and I was able to come forward and be my own personality. Now we’re at a stage where I’m comfortable in every situation. I can read the room very well, I can read my opponents well.” Eubank Jr will hope he has a good read of Smith on Saturday. Watch Smith vs Eubank Jr 2 on Sky Sports Box Office on Saturday 2 September, live from the AO Arena in Manchester Read More Eubank vs Smith 2 live stream: How to watch fight online and on TV this weekend Liam Smith: ‘Chris Eubank Jr is a nightmare – not for me, for other people’ Oleksandr Usyk remains heavyweight champion but where does he go from here? Adam Azim seeks Aram Fanyan ‘demolition’ in grandfather’s memory Who is fighting on Eubank vs Smith 2 undercard this weekend? What time does Eubank vs Smith 2 start this weekend?

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