Russian military destroys Western weapons amid eastern Ukraine push

Russia has once again destroyed Western weapons amid intense fighting in eastern Ukraine, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said Saturday.

A hangar containing US-supplied M777 howitzers was destroyed near the village of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said.

Numerous Ukrainian soldiers were also killed there, the spokesperson added.
Koneshenkov said dozens of Ukrainian soldiers were killed in artillery and rocket attacks, and that ammunition depots and military equipment were destroyed in various regions.
The information could not be independently verified.
In the morning, the Ukrainian General Staff in Kyiv reported Russian attacks on a broad front.
The Russian army is now increasingly targeting the Donetsk region from the already largely captured Luhansk region, according to Ukrainian sources.

The occupiers were leading attacks from Lysychansk towards the west, the Ukrainian governor of Luhansk, Serhii Haidai, said on Saturday.

"We are doing our best to stop the armed groups of the Russians all along the line." However, according to Haidai, they are attacking from several sides and trying to penetrate deep into the neighbouring territory.
Haidai said they were creating a "real hell" with rocket attacks and artillery fire but that Ukrainian forces were resisting bravely.
Russia is likely to target the larger towns of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk next in the Donetsk region. Moscow's declared goal is to wrest the region completely from Ukrainian control.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff in Kiev, there was also shelling in the Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions, with civilian infrastructure also hit.