Russia continued its missile and drone attacks across Ukraine on Saturday. It also reportedly deployed more troops in the eastern city of Bakhmut in an apparent bid to hold off Ukraine's counteroffensive.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Saturday that Russian airstrikes had caused deaths and injuries among civilians in the eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk and the southern regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Ukraine's authorities said they had shot down unmanned Russian aircraft that had staged an attack near Kyiv. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a social media post that falling fragments had caused a fire at a nine-story building.
Speaking about Bakhmut, where fierce fighting continues, Ukrainian deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar said on Friday that Russia had sent in several thousand more troops. She said that "the enemy cannot win with quality, so he tries with quantity."
Britain's defense ministry said on Saturday it was highly likely that Russia had redeployed up to several battalions in the past four days to reinforce its forces in the Bakhmut area.
The ministry said, "Russia's leadership likely continue to see capturing Bakhmut as the key immediate war aim which would allow them to claim some degree of success in the conflict."