Destroyed bee hives on the site of a Russian missile strike in the village of Rivne near Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, January 7, 2024 (Oleksandr Ratushniak/Reuters)

Sunday’s Coverage: A Visit to A Children’s Hospital Bombed by Russia

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1342 GMT:

The death of a fifth Indian citizen, fighting for Russia on the frontline in Ukraine, has been reported.

The relatives of Ravi Moun, 22, said he had been killed on the battlefield.

Scores of Indian men have reportedly been lured to Russia with the promise of work, and then press-ganged into the military.

Two weeks ago India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said Russia promised to discharge Indian nationals who were “misled”: “The Russian side promised the early discharge of all Indian nationals from the service of the Russian army.”

Kwatra said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “strongly raised the issue of early discharge” with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a two-day trip to Moscow, stressing the need to bring all Indians home “as early as possible.”

The Kremlin did not comment on its supposed pledge.

UPDATE 1150 GMT:

Ukraine President Zelenskiy is visiting the Vovchansk area in the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine.

Ukrainian defenders have repelled a Russian cross-border offensive from mid-May that tried to seize Vovchansk.

Zelenskiy tweeted:

UPDATE 1141 GMT:

Ukraine has urged the UN and the Red Cross to investigate Russia’s murder of at least 53 Ukrainian POWs and injuring of at least 130 in a prison in the Donetsk region in July 2022.

The POWs were slain when explosives were detonated in the Olenivka barracks.

“Two years ago, Russians carried out a terrorist attack in Olenivka against Ukrainian PoW. I call on the UN and the ICRC to fulfil their mandate and investigate this war crime,” Ukrainian rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.

On Sunday, several thousand Ukrainian soldiers and civilians marked the second anniversary of the killings with a commemoration at Kyiv’s Independence Square. Speakers urged the Government to make more efforts to get releases of POWs through prisoner exchanges.

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said:

[Olenivka] stands as one of the most horrific Russian crimes in this war.

Russia must be held accountable for this, and they will be. There is no scenario where the murderers remain unpunished.

UPDATE 0744 GMT:

Ukraine’s air defenses downed 9 of 10 Iran-type attack drones and a Kh-59 missile launched by Russia overnight.

Explosions from interceptions were heard in Kryvyi Rih in sout-central Ukraine, in Sumy in the north, and in the Kharkiv region in the northeast.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has acknowledged the difficulties in resisting Russia’s offensive in the Donetsk region in the east of the country.

Zelenskiy spoke as Russia claimed the capture of two villages a few kilometers apart, Progres and Yevgenivka, amid a drive on the city of Pokrovsk.

It is extremely challenging in the Donetsk directions, and it is in the Pokrovsk direction that there have been the biggest number of Russian assaults these weeks — the most intense enemy attacks are precisely there.

Everyone who stops these Russian attacks and destroys this Russian offensive potential is performing one of the most important missions in this war.

Zelenskiy also marked the second anniversary of Russia’s murder, through the detonation of explosives, of at least 53 Ukrianian prisoners of war in the Olenivka barracks in Donetsk.

Pokrovsk is northwest of Donetsk city, Russia’s main position since it supported separatists to split the region in 2014. About 25 km (15 miles) from the frontline, it is a logistics hub at an intersection of roads and a railway.

Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said last Monday, “The enemy pays no attention to their fairly high level of losses and continues to push through towards Pokrovsk.”

The General Staff said on Monday morning that Ukrainian forces had fought off 52 Russian assaults in the Pokrovsk area in the last 24 hours: “The greatest concentration of enemy attacks was around Zhelanne and Novooleksandrivka.”

With an advantage of up to 7:1 in artillery shells and using guided bombs, Moscow has pursued an offensive since last autumn to seize more territory, expending tens of thousands of troops. In mid-February, it occupied the devastated town of Avdiivka — its first significant gain since Bakhmut in May 2023 — and the invaders have claimed a series of villages since then.