Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said the city of Bakhmut “suffered the worst damage” of Russian attacks on the greater Donbas region.

“The Russians killed eight people and wounded another 17,” Kyrylenko said in a statement on social media.

He said that residential buildings, shops, a cultural building and an administrative centre were damaged, as well as a marketplace.

“The city has been without water and electricity for the fourth day,” he said, adding that “repairs are impossible due to ongoing fighting.”

Meanwhile, The Ukrainian said nine people had been killed in the region over the last 24 hours and one person had been killed in the neighboring Kharkiv region.

Acoording to Ukrainian authorities, their counter-offensive in Kharkiv against invading Russian troops has been gaining momentum.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Thursday that Ukraine’s forces had retaken Balakliya, a city of nearly 30,000 people that had been occupied by Russian forces for around six months.

The road from Kharkiv southeast to Balakliya was open Friday, AFP journalists said, with queues at several checkpoints and civilian and military vehicles on the road.

Ukraine said Thursday its forces made gains in the north, the south and the east, prying back land seized by Russia which had hoped for a swift victory when it attacked nearly seven months ago.