Russia announces 'massive strikes' on Ukraine front

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said that in the Kharkiv region, reports were emerging of "outrageous" treatment of civilians.

Russia said Tuesday it was carrying out "massive strikes" across the Ukrainian front line and accused Ukrainian soldiers of abusing civilians in territories recaptured in a dramatic counter-offensive.

Moscow's retaliation came after it was forced to pull back its troops from swathes of the northeast, particularly in the Kharkiv region, following Kyiv's lightning assault to wrest back terrain.

The territorial shifts marked one of Russia's biggest setbacks since its troops were repelled from Kyiv in the earliest days of the nearly seven-month war, yet Moscow signalled it was no closer to agreeing to a negotiated peace.

"Air, rocket and artillery forces are carrying out massive strikes on units of the Ukrainian armed forces in all operational directions," the Russian defence ministry said in its daily briefing on the conflict.

"High-precision" strikes have also been launched on Ukrainian positions around Sloviansk and Konstantinovka in the eastern Donetsk region, it added. The Kremlin accused Kyiv's army of abusing civilians in territory it had recaptured.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said that in the Kharkiv region, reports were emerging of "outrageous" treatment of civilians. "There are a lot of punitive measures... people are being tortured, people are being mistreated and so on," Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

Russia's allegations came after Ukrainian authorities claimed to have found four bodies of civilians with "signs of torture" in the recaptured eastern village of Zaliznychne.