New Russian offensive underway in Ukraine, says NATO
The HinduThe eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut was facing heavy artillery fire as the NATO chief backed reports from local officials that a major new Russian offensive had begun, days before the first anniversary of Moscow's invasion. "The city, the city's suburbs, the entire perimeter, and essentially the entire Bakhmut direction and Kostyantynivka are under crazy, chaotic shelling," Volodymyr Nazarenko, deputy commander of Ukraine's Svoboda battalion, said on Monday. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby on Monday said reports of the plot had not been independently confirmed but were "deeply concerning" and "certainly not outside the bounds of Russian behaviour." Even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many NATO countries fell short of meeting the alliance's munitions stockpiling targets, as officials considered wars of attrition with large-scale artillery a thing of the past.