Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Wednesday, in his daily speech published on social media platforms, the outbreak of "very fierce battles" near Bakhmut in Donetsk in the east of the country, where Russian forces are seeking to make progress after setbacks following counterattacks by Ukrainian forces. Zelensky also said: "The situation on the front is not witnessing major changes. Very fierce battles are taking place in the Donetsk area, near Bakhmut and Avdiivka." Seven civilians were also killed and three others injured on Tuesday in Bakhmut, according to the regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. Fighting is also ongoing between the Ukrainian and Russian armies in the city, where Russian forces are trying to achieve success after several setbacks since early September. Zelensky also confirmed that "the Russian occupiers have lost a lot of aviation equipment and others," considering that "Russia will not be able to compensate for these losses." He also again condemned the "madness of the Russian leadership" which "especially stands out" in the east of the country "by sending people to their deaths... day after day" and On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw nuclear "deterrence" forces exercises on Wednesday, while Moscow repeated its accusation to India and China that Ukraine is preparing to use a "dirty bomb." While Kyiv denies any intention to use such a weapon, its Western allies fear that these accusations are a pretext for Moscow to escalate the conflict or to use nuclear weapons, which its officials have repeatedly threatened to resort to if Russia faces a major threat. In the same context, Putin had attended from the control room a training exercise for the Russian strategic deterrence forces responsible especially for responding to threats in case of a nuclear war. Although this type of exercise is held periodically, it comes this time amid the Russian attack in Ukraine. And in a related context, the authorities of the Crimean Peninsula announced on Thursday that a power plant in the region annexed by Moscow in 2014 was targeted by a drone attack at night, noting that the plant was not heavily damaged. In addition, the Moscow-appointed governor Mikhail Razvozzhayev said via Telegram: "Last night there was a drone attack on the Balaklava thermal power station." He pointed out that the station suffered "minor damage. No casualties were recorded."