Heavy fighting continues in Donetsk region, says Ukrainian army

Ukrainian troops repelled more than twenty Russian attacks on Thursday in the areas of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Marinka in the Donetsk Oblast, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported.

"The enemy has been trying to take the city of Bakhmut under complete control and continues assaulting it. During the last 24 hours, the enemy also conducted unsuccessful storm activities in the populated areas of Bohdanivka and Ivanivske"  said Andrii Kovaliov, the General Staff Spokesperson.

It comes as medics rescued a seriously injured civilian after shelling in Bakhmut. He had received numerous shrapnel wounds but according to doctors, was stabilized in a military field hospital before being treated in a civilian hospital for several hours before he was evacuated to a bigger hospital in Dnipro. 

"Over 15 settlements suffered from enemy shelling. In Avdiika and Mariinka directions the enemy was conducting attacking activities in the area of Novokalynove, Avdiivka and Mariinka in the Donetsk region, without success. Just near Mariinka alone the enemy committed over 20 attacks without success" said Kovaliov.

Meanwhile, Russia-appointed officials in the Donetsk People's Republic on Thursday claimed that at least four people were killed in Donetsk, as a result of the strike on a car repair shop by the Ukrainian Army, Russian State Agency RIA Novosti reported.

According to Ivan Sorokin, an employee of the repair shop, there were a total of four missile strikes on their territory.  The claim was backed up by Denis Pushlin, the Russian-appointed head of Donetsk and the Russian investigative committee.