Revenge for the loss of 70 Ukrainian soldiers in Belgorod attempted to take Kiev, sending massive waves of armed drones against the city.
"During the night, several drone attacks were repelled in the Belgorod region," Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on his Telegram channel.
"The night was not calm. There were a large number of attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles. The most important thing is that there are no casualties at all," he wrote.
According to the governor, air defense systems dealt with most of the drones, but in some cases there is damage to private houses, cars, and office buildings, which were damaged in the Borisovka and Belgorod regions.
"In the village of Tomarovka in the Yakovlescu region, Ukrainian drones dropped explosive devices on administrative buildings twice," the Russian official added.
In one of them the roof was damaged, in the other the roof and floors. Another explosive device was dropped by a drone on a private house in Novaya Tabololzlanka. There was no explosion. Special emergency services are on the scene.
On Monday, May 22, a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group invaded the territory of the Grevoron district of the Belgorod region.
The legal status of the anti-terrorist operation was declared in the area. The next day, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the saboteurs had been blocked and eliminated.
In total, more than 70 Ukrainian fighters were killed. From the actions of the saboteurs, one citizen was killed, 13 others were injured.
According to the governor, now nine people remain in hospitals, of which three are in intensive care.
Russian advance in Avdiivka and Prigozhin's statements
In a statement by the head of the mercenary organization Wagner G. Prigozin, the following was said:
“We fought in Bakhmut against superior forces, destroyed about 50,000 Ukrainian Armed Forces and wounded up to 70,000.
"Wagner" had 3.2 times less dead than the Armed Forces of Ukraine and about 2 times less wounded."
The bottom line is that after Bakhmut the Russians targeted Chasov Yar and Avdiivka.
Russian units are making significant progress around Avdeeka, Russian media reports.
After the successful liberation of Bakhmut, Russian units continue offensive operations in Donetsk.
According to reports from Ukrainian military analysts, the Russian Armed Forces have made significant progress in recent days in their efforts to encircle Abdeeka.
"Last weekend, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) lost their positions along the railway lines and part of the forest zone in the region of Avdiyivka," the Ukrainian army emphasizes.
Heavy fighting is now taking place west of Novobakhmut and north of Krasnagorovka.
The Russian command sent additional reserves to these areas while continuing the attack in the direction of the forest belt along the railway west of Krasnagorovka.
"Between the settlements of Vodiyanine, Pervamayaskoe and Nevelskoe, the Armed Forces of Russia are actively attacking, trying to break the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the trenches," Ukrainian experts add.
However, Ukrainian units continue to stubbornly resist. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have been activated and are trying to counterattack in some areas in order to regain lost positions.
The fortified area of Avdiivka is a key defensive center, from which Ukrainian artillery regularly bombards populated areas of the Donbas capital.
Then the way is wide open for a Russian march, since there is no trace of a Ukrainian defensive arrangement in the interior, only endless plains.
