Fierce fighting continues around village of Klishchiivka near Bakhmut, drones and missiles strike Ukraine overnight, Russia downs three drones over annexed Crimea

It is day 572 of the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian military said it was continuing its advance around Klishchiivka and Bakhmut.

The Russian Defence Ministry has reported downing three drones over annexed Crimea.

Drone strikes targeted several Ukrainian regions overnight, while missile strikes were reported in the Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Khmelnytskyi regions.

The former director of Russia’s space agency Dmitry Rogozin is being considered for potential senatorial appointment in the Russia-occupied areas of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukrainian military continues advance around Klishchiivka and Bakhmut

The Ukrainian General Staff reported on Monday that the country’s military was continuing its assault on Russian forces around the village of Klishchiivka in the Donetsk region.

“The enemy keeps trying to break through our defences near Andriivka in the Donetsk region with no luck. Our military continues its assault in the Klishchiivka district as well, causing significant losses to the enemy’s manpower and equipment,” the General Staff said in a statement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian forces had captured Klishchiivka on Sunday. The village is a key staging point for an advance on the fiercely contested town of Bakhmut.

The US Institute for the Study of War believes that the liberation of Andriivka and Klishchiivka has allowed Ukraine to keep Russian reserves from being redeployed to the Zaporizhzhia region, adding that Ukraine’s decision not to withdraw from Bakhmut in the hopes of eventually recapturing it was the right one.

“Elements of two of Russia’s Airborne (VDV) divisions and three of Russia’s four VDV separate brigades are currently defending the Bakhmut area. This significant Ukrainian achievement has helped prevent Russia from creating a large mobile VDV operational reserve that could have been used to stop the main Ukrainian counteroffensive effort in Zaporizhia,” the ISW said in its Sunday bulletin.

Three Ukrainian drones shot down over annexed Crimea

Three Ukrainian drones were downed over the south-western part of the annexed Crimean peninsula, the Russian Defence Ministry reported late on Sunday. 

A loud explosion was heard in the port of Sevastopol at around 8:30 PM yesterday, according to Ukrainian news website Krym.Realii.

Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, said that the city’s response teams had been put on standby although no buildings were damaged.

Locals reported hearing an explosion near Cape Fiolent, where several Russian military facilities are located.

Air raid alerts issued nationwide as Ukraine attacked by drones

Ukraine’s Air Force (UAF) reported drone strikes on the Ukrainian regions of Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson in the early hours of Monday.

The UAF also reported cruise missiles launched at the Kharkiv and Dnipro regions.

Air raid alerts were declared nationwide overnight with explosions reported by local media in the Khmelnytskyi region shortly afterwards.

Russia’s former space chief under consideration for Senate seat in occupied Zaporizhzhia

Dmitry Rogozin, the former director general of Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, could soon be representing the occupied Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine in the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, business newspapers Vedomosti and Kommersant reported on Sunday.

Rogozin “may be appointed senator by the region’s governor. He was on the voting list with the United Russia party,” Vedomosti quoted its source as saying.

Also being considered for the seat is Vladimir Rogov, the leader of a pro-Russian organisation in the region and a well-known local collaborator, the sources say.