Ukraine-Russia war - live: Putin’s forces keep pressure on Avdiivka as six killed in Kharkiv strike

Russian forces maintained pressure on Sunday on the town of Avdiivka in the east and intensified shelling in the southern area of Kherson. Russia has focused on the industrial east since pulling back from a failed advance on Kyiv at the start of the February 2022 invasion and its forces have tried to maintain positions in Kherson since abandoning the region’s main town late last year. The General Staff of Ukraine‘s Armed Forces, in its evening report, said Ukrainian forces repelled nearly 20 Russian attacks around Avdiivka, its buildings now largely reduced to shells. Russian air strikes hit nearby villages, it said. It comes as officials in southern Ukraine said on Sunday that the Russian military had used a record number of aerial bombs over the country’s Kherson region in the past 24 hours. Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian military’s Operational Command South, said 36 missiles had been recorded over the area, with some villages being hit by several strikes. In other developments, six people have been killed in a Russian missile attack that hit a postal distribution centre in Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials have said, as Kherson has seen a record number of bomb attacks in the past 24 hours. Read More Six killed and 16 injured in Russian missile strike on Kharkiv mail depot Aftermath of Russian missile strike on Ukraine mail depot that killed six in Kharkiv Ukrainians prepare firewood and candles to brace for a winter of Russian strikes on the energy grid Ukrainian officials say civilians were killed and wounded in Russian overnight attacks