Vladimir Putin’s troops have launched heavy attacks along Ukraine’s front line with dozens of clashes as Kyiv hinted at an armed forces leadership reset.
There were 78 clashes over the past day, with 43 Russian air strikes carried out in eastern Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s general staff.
It comes as Volodymyr Zelensky admitted he was seeking to replace the country’s most senior military commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
“A reset, a new beginning is necessary. If we want to win we must all push in the same direction, convinced of victory, we cannot be discouraged, let our arms fall, we must have the right positive energy,” Zelensky told Rai News.
The president and Zaluzhnyi have disagreed over plans for further mobilisation, with Zelensky announcing at the end of last year that he had turned down a request from the military to mobilise up to 500,000 new recruits.
Meanwhile, at least 28 people have been killed after Ukrainian shelling destroyed a bakery in the Russian-occupied city of Lysychansk, Moscow officials claimed.