Russians launched 34 missile, 273 air strikes on Ukraine last week – Maliar

"Over the past week, the enemy launched 34 missile attacks and 273 airstrikes throughout the territory of our country. That is more than 40 strikes per day on the territory of our state," Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Maliar said during the United News nationwide telethon, Ukrinform reports.

Maliar also noted that the number of enemy strikes on Ukrainian forces has almost doubled in the east, and the Russians are stockpiling reserves.

"Last week, we said that the enemy launched about 6,500 strikes on our positions in the east [in the previous week]. This week [in total over the past week], we have almost a doubled figure – almost 12,000. Our troops actually constantly deal with artillery and mortar shelling, with the fact that the enemy is bringing up new reserves there. If we talk about Bakhmut direction, literally in the last two days, the enemy brought two regiments of airborne assault troops there, strengthening their capabilities. That is, the confrontation is very serious," the deputy minister noted.

Maliar explained that the situation at the front did not change significantly over the past week; the Ukrainian defense forces, like the enemy troops, go on the offensive and hold the defense.