Ukrainian troops face "difficult" defensive operations on parts of the eastern front with bitter winter cold setting in but forces in the south are still conducting offensive actions, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says.
Russian troops launched offensives on different sections of the front line in Ukraine's east in the northern hemisphere autumn, trying to advance on the devastated town of Avdiivka and in the northeast between the towns of Lyman and Kupiansk.
"Difficult weather, difficult defence on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Donetsk and Avdiivka fronts. Offensive actions in the south," Zelenskiy said on Telegram messenger.
Snow and freezing temperatures that stood at about minus 5C during the day on Wednesday and were expected to drop lower may further complicate operations on the battleground where fighting is moving to an attritional phase.
Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine.
Ukraine launched a counteroffensive to retake occupied territory this summer but has not forced a major breakthrough.
Since mid-October, Avdiivka, where the front line has changed little since the first war erupted in 2014 between Ukraine and Russian-backed militants, faced waves of attacks followed by temporary lulls, according to the Ukrainian military.
After one such lull the day before, the head of the "Tavria" military command said on Wednesday that Russian troops had "dramatically increased" the number of assaults and airstrikes.
"Our defenders are steadfastly holding the defence in the Avdiivka direction," Commander Oleksandr Tarnavskyi said on Telegram.
Ukrainian forces continued the offensive on the southeastern Melitopol front, he added.
In their morning readout on the battlefield, the General Staff said troops were also holding onto the bridgeheads secured on the eastern side of the River Dnipro that was occupied by Russian forces in the early days of their invasion.
Reuters could not independently verify the frontline reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told the leaders of the G20 on Wednesday that it was necessary to think about how to stop "the tragedy" of the war in Ukraine.
Putin's decision to send troops into Ukraine in February 2022 triggered Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.
Addressing G20 leaders for the first time since the start of the war, the Kremlin chief said some leaders had said in their speeches that they were shocked by the ongoing "aggression" of Russia in Ukraine.
"Yes, of course, military actions are always a tragedy," Putin told the virtual G20 meeting called by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"And of course, we should think about how to stop this tragedy," Putin said.
"By the way, Russia has never refused peace talks with Ukraine."
The remark, although clearly intended for international consumption, is one of Putin's most dovish on the war for months and contrasts with his sometimes long diatribes about the failings and arrogance of the United States.
Putin used the word "war" to describe the conflict instead of the current Kremlin term of "special military operation".
"I understand that this war, and the death of people, cannot but shock," Putin said, before setting out the Russian case that Ukraine had persecuted people in eastern Ukraine.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine began in 2014 after a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine's Maidan Revolution and Russia annexed Crimea, with Russian-backed separatist forces fighting Ukraine's armed forces.
About 14,000 people were killed there between 2014 and the end of 2021, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, including 3106 civilians.
"And the extermination of the civilian population in Palestine, in the Gaza Strip today, is not shocking?" Putin asked.
