Moscow’s forces in the southern region of Kherson, meanwhile, carried out a fatal shelling of a village retaken by Ukrainian forces one year ago.

Avdiivka, an industrial hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, has long been a symbol of Ukrainian resistance after it was briefly captured by pro-Russian forces in 2014.

“(Russian forces) are not only fighting for the plant, they have not given up trying to surround Avdiivka,” Oleksandr Shtupun, a Ukrainian military spokesman told state media.

He said Ukrainian forces were repelling Russian assaults on the large chemical plant and that the facility was under their control.

He added that Russian forces were routinely striking Avdiivka with artillery and military jets, saying a bombardment late on Thursday had killed two civilians.

“The bodies are now under the rubble,” Shtupun said.

Ukrainian officials said earlier this week they were bracing for a third wave of attacks from Russian forces, which began storming the city about one month ago.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky this week described Avdiivka as one of the “hottest” areas on the frontline.

Avdiivka has been almost completely destroyed by nine years of fighting. Despite coming under daily artillery fire, around 1,500 of the city’s 30,000 pre-war residents remain, living mainly in basements converted into bomb shelters.

Further south in the region of Kherson, the regional governor said five people were wounded and one killed in Russian shelling on the village of Novoraysk.

The official, Oleksandr Prokudin, said that among those wounded, a 61-year-old man had sustained fatal injuries.

Russian and Ukrainian forces are entrenched on opposing banks of the Dnipro River, which cuts through the Kherson region and are regularly shelling each other.