Heavy fighting, shelling continues across Ukraine as one-year anniversary of Russian invasion nears

Heavy fighting and shelling continued in Ukraine Saturday as the war neared the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion.

Vitaly Kim, a member of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, wrote on Telegram Saturday that Russia fired on government buildings in the coastal community of Ochakivska on the Black Sea for the second straight day, destroying homes and businesses that caught on fire due to the strikes.

Kim said that there had been no confirmed casualties yet as of early Saturday.

Ukrainian forces in the region recently received military-grade lighting equipment from Latvia to help identify Russian drones, according to Kim.

“Thanks to the received equipment, our fighters will be able to detect and destroy enemy drones that plan to attack the infrastructure of Mykolaiv and other regions,” Kim wrote Friday. “We will not miss a single drone.”

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that Russia is importing drones from China to use in the war, despite international sanctions aimed at limiting the Kremlin’s ability to resupply its military.

The report preceded an appearance by China’s top diplomat at the Munich Security Conference, where he said Beijing is ready to present its peace proposal for Ukraine.

“This warfare can not continue to rage on,” said Wang Yi, top foreign policy adviser to Chinese President Xi Jinping, CNN reported. The proposal will respect the territorial and sovereignty integrity of all countries, he said.

“We can of course continue to shout out our positions at international conferences like this one, but I suggest that we should also begin to think calmly, especially for my friends in Europe,” Wang said. “We need to think about what efforts we can make to bring this warfare to an end.”

Meanwhile, the governor of Luhansk, one of the two eastern provinces in the partially Russian-controlled Donbas region, said that both land and air attacks from Russia have been increasing.

“Today is rather difficult on all directions,” Gov. Serhiy Haidai told local TV. “There are constant attempts to break through our defense lines.’

Further north, Ukrainian forces were also fighting to hold off the continued Russian efforts to advance on the city of Bakhmut, where soldiers are pleading for more weapons from Western allies after weeks of battle.

“Give us more military equipment, more weapons, and we will deal with the Russian occupier, we will destroy them,” Dmytro, a Ukrainian serviceman told Reuters as he stood in the snow near Bakhmut.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that 10 regions were targeted by missiles over the previous 24 hours, leaving them dead and injured.

“The terrorist state does not stop trying to intimidate civilians,” Zelensky wrote on social media.

“Everyone who perpetuates this constant terror will face just punishment,” “You will definitely have to answer. For every life that’s been ruined. For every missile launched across Ukraine. For all the evil and suffering that Russia has brought to our land.”

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also released new figures on the amount of Russian equipment it claims has been destroyed since the beginning of the conflict, including more than 3,000 tanks, 2,300 artillery vehicles, and nearly 300 military jets.

The agency claimed that at least 2,000 Russian drones have been shot down and 18 warships sunk.

“I don’t believe in regrets; I believe your future is in your tomorrow’s,” the Ukrainian Defense Ministry wrote on Twitter, quoting and citing John Travolta.