Ukrainian forces repelled fresh Russian attacks on Bakhmut over the past 24 hours, Kyiv said, as the battle for the ruined city in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk continued to exact a heavy toll on both sides, while European Union ministers on March 20 prepared to discuss a 2 billion euro ($2.13 billion) plan to supply Ukraine with badly needed ammunition.
Russian forces launched 69 attacks over the past day on Bakhmut and the nearby locations of Avdiyivka, Lyman, Maryinka, and Shakhtarsk, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in its daily report.
Russian forces kept shelling civilian settlements in Donetsk and Zaporyzhzhya regions, causing casualties among the civilian population and damaging infrastructure, the military said.
In the Moscow-occupied part of the southern region of Kherson, Russian forces manning checkpoints have been pushing civilians to take up Russian passports, threatening them with violence and imprisonment, the Ukrainian military report said.
The western part of Kherson, including Kherson city, was liberated by Ukrainian forces in November as Russians retreated across the Dnieper River.
EU ministers discuss €2 billion ammo buy for Ukraine
In Brussels, EU foreign and defense ministers gather on March 20 to discuss plans to provide 2 billion euros worth of artillery shells to Ukraine under a deal that will include joint EU ammunition purchases.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell voiced hope a deal could be closed at the meeting.
"Together, foreign affairs and defense [ministers] will, I hope, finish the agreement on providing ammunition to Ukraine," Borrell told reporters as he arrived for the meeting.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is due to address the gathering via video link from Kyiv to brief the ministers on the current situation on the battlefield.
Kyiv has said it need 350,000 shells every month to stave off Russia's offensive in the east and to be able to prepare for a counteroffensive this spring.
EU member states have so far given $13 billion worth of military support to Ukraine since the start of Russia's unprovoked invasion.
The bloc's foreign ministers are also due to address Moscow's accountability for forcibly deporting Ukrainian children to Russia as well as measures to facilitate Ukrainian exports.
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