On Friday, Andriy Zadubinnyi, spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern command, said: “The situation there [Chasiv Yar] is very difficult; the fighting continues, but they [Russian troops] are not there… Don’t believe the Russian reports.”

Earlier, the Russian state-owned RIA news agency cited an adviser to the Russian-appointed regional head as saying that Russian forces were in the suburb of Chasiv Yar.

Chasiv Yar is located about 10 kilometers west of Bakhmut, on the road to Kostiantynivka, from which a string of smaller settlements leads to Kramatorsk and Slovyansk—important centers of the Donetsk region under Ukrainian control. The Ukrainian military heavily fortifies the town of Chasiv Yar, housing an important garrison.

The Russian defense ministry recently reported that its military had taken control of the village of Ivanivske, which is situated between Chasiv Yar and Bakhmut, nearly a year ago.

In the meantime, the Ukrainian military has said that Shahed drones were destroyed over the Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, adding that Russia also used two S-300/S-400 missiles and three Iskander-M ballistic missiles in the attack.

One of the attacks targeted energy infrastructure in the Odesa region, but air defenses repelled all four drones, Ukraine’s southern group of forces said on the Telegram messaging app. The debris damaged several private residences and farm buildings in Zaporizhzhia, the statement said.

Local officials also reported explosions in an attack in the eastern city of Kharkiv, a regular target of Russian attacks, late on Thursday. The region’s governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said the attack damaged four cars and a five-story building, with no casualties reported as of Friday morning.

Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian grid infrastructure in recent weeks, aiming to disrupt the country’s power and energy network.