Kyiv (TIP): Ukrainian and Russian troops battled in eastern regions on January 5 as Kyiv tried to push back occupying forces, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the West to provide his army with heavy tanks to boost their firepower.

The Ukrainian military said the Russians were focused on an offensive in the Bakhmut sector of the Donetsk region, but their attacks in the Avdiivka and Kupiansk sectors were unsuccessful.

The governor of neighbouring Luhansk region, meanwhile, said Ukrainian troops were recapturing areas there “step-by-step” but cautioned it was “not happening fast”. Luhansk and Donetsk make up the Donbas region, Ukraine’s industrial heartland, parts of which were seized by Russian-backed proxies in 2014.

Russia declared Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions as part of its territory in September after referendums condemned by Ukraine and Western countries. Russia does not fully control any of the four regions.

Bakhmut, which is now largely in ruins after months of battering by Russian artillery, is important because the Russian leadership wants to have a success to hold up to the Russian public after a series of setbacks in the war. It is located on a strategic supply line between the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Gaining control of the city, with a pre-war population of 70,000-80,000 that has shrunk to close to 10,000, could give Russia a stepping stone to advance on two bigger cities – Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Fighting has been particularly tough there, with commanders on both sides describing it as a “meat grinder”. (Reuters)