Massive combat surge rocks Russia-Ukraine fronts
Shafaq News – Moscow / Kyiv
Russian and Ukrainian forces escalated military activity over the weekend, reporting rising casualties, intensified drone attacks, and sustained shelling across multiple fronts.
Russian sources told TASS on Monday that “several dozen” civilians were killed in the city of Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People’s Republic, citing close-quarters combat and a wave of FPV and “Baba Yaga” drone strikes. They noted that while initial civilian deaths often stemmed from direct encounters with Ukrainian troops, most recent fatalities result from increasingly frequent drone warfare.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported downing 61 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 18 over the Black Sea, 12 in Voronezh, and 11 in Crimea, with additional interceptions in Belgorod, Volgograd, Bryansk, Rostov, Moscow, and Ryazan.
In Volgograd, drone debris sparked grassfires and shattered windows near Frolovo’s Archeda train station, briefly disrupting rail service, though no injuries were reported, according to Governor Andrey Bocharov.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s General Staff recorded 183 combat engagements in the past 24 hours, concentrated along the eastern and southern axes, while Russian forces launched over 65 airstrikes, 4,300 artillery shells, and 2,400 kamikaze drones, targeting Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
Ukrainian troops reportedly pushed back repeated assaults in Vovchansk, Kupyansk, Lyman, and Toretsk, with 22 separate ground offensives reported in the Novopavlivka sector, though no clashes were noted near Huliaipole or Orikhiv.
Kyiv claimed its counterattacks destroyed or damaged eight Russian armored vehicles, 28 artillery systems, 85 military trucks, and shot down 77 drones, estimating Russian troop losses at 1,010 in the past day.
