Russia Ukraine war live: Kyiv preparing for new attacks on Avdiivka

Russian forces failed to regain lost ground near Klishchiivka and Andriivka south of Bakhmut, and near Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said.

There were also 68 skirmishes with Russian forces recorded over the past day, according to the General Staff.

It comes as Ukraine is preparing for a new wave of attacks near the besieged town of Avdiivka, the head of the region’s military administration said.

Russian officials are “concerned” with maintaining authoritarian rule following antisemitic riots which were blamed on Western inteference, a think tank said.

“Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov’s reactions to the riots in Dagestan suggest that he is first and foremost concerned with maintaining the perception of his unwavering support of Putin,” the Institute for the study of War said.

“And secondly, he is concerned with demonstrating the strength of his authoritarian rule over Chechnya by threatening a violent response to potential future riots.”

US President Joe Biden has threatened to veto a Republican bill which would provide aid to Israel but not Ukraine.

“In contrast to the President’s national security package, this bill provides no aid whatsoever to Ukraine. This is an urgent requirement,” the White House’s Office of Management and Budget said.

It comes as Mr Biden wants Congress to provide $106bn in funding to both Israel and Ukraine. But Republican speaker Mike Johnson, who was elected by the House last week, is sceptical about funding Ukraine’s war effort and said he would not back the president’s efforts.

Ukraine is preparing for a new wave of attacks near the besieged town of Avdiivka, the head of the region’s military administration said.

“Our boys are preparing for a new wave,” military chief Vitaliy Barabash said. On Monday, Kyiv claimed Russia was preparing to conduct “meat assaults” by throwing troops at the front line without artillery cover.

The Storm-Z units, made up of penal convicts, are often destroyed after a few days and on average lose between 40 to 70 per cent of their personnel, according to a Russian milblogger.

Russia’s small one-way attack weapons have been one of the “most effective” military capabilites Putin has used on the battlefield this year, the UK Ministry of Defence said.

“Russia’s Lancet small one-way-attack uncrewed aerial systems (OWA UAVs) have highly likely been one of the most effective new capabilities Russia has fielded in Ukraine over the last 12 months,” the ministry said.

“Russia deploys Lancets to attack priority targets and they have become increasingly prominent in the key counter-battery fight, striking enemy artillery.”

The world expects success on the battlefield “too quickly”, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

In response to growing criticism Kyiv’s counteroffensive has been a failure, Mr Zelensky said: “The modern world is set up in such a way that it becomes accustomed to success too quickly. When the full-scale aggression began, many in the world did not think Ukraine would endure.”

Ukraine’s military said Russian forces were gearing up for fresh attacks in different sections of the front, but there has been little movement along the 1,000km frontline in recent months.

Russia struck a Ukrainian oil refinery after launching scores of drones and a missile overnight, according to military officials.

The Kremenchuk oil refinery in Poltava, was set ablaze amid a broader attack which targeted military and critical infrastructure, Filip Pronin, head of the region’s military administration, said.

“The fire has been extinguished. The situation is under control,” he said on Telegram, adding that there were no reports yet of casualties as officials sought to gather more details of the destruction.

The air force said 18 of the 20 Russian-launched kamikaze Shahed drones were destroyed before reaching their targets, as was the missile.

Mr Putin on Monday, without presenting any evidence, accused unnamed Ukrainian agents of Western spy agencies of “trying to inspire” the rampage at the airport late on Sunday which injured more than 20 people.

The Russian president claimed the chaos was part of America’s efforts to weaken Russia.

None of those injured in the attack were Israeli nationals, reported The Associated Press.

Ukraine has received about £2.3bn from international partners including the US and EU this month, according to its finance ministry.

The total sum included a $1.15bn grant from the US and 1.5bn euro as part of a macro-financial assistance package from the EU.

Overall, Ukraine has received £29bn in external funding so far in 2023. The World Bank estimated in December 2022 that Ukraine’s reconstruction could cost more than £518bn.

The Russian air defence systems destroyed 36 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the northwestern part of the Crimean peninsula, its defence ministry wrote on Telegram on Sunday, accusing Kyiv of carrying out a “terrorist attack”.

In a separate incident, local officials in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region near the Black Sea said an oil refinery was hit and set ablaze in the early hours of Sunday but did not explain what caused the fire. Several local media outlets said that the fire was caused by a drone strike or a crashed drone’s debris.

Officials in Kyiv have not issued a comment on the Russian defence ministry’s claims. The war-hit nation rarely acknowledges responsibility for attacks on Russia and Russian-occupied territories but has admitted that striking targets there helps its counteroffensive.