Russian rockets hit military, civilian targets in Donbas, Ukraine officials say

Aug. 2 (UPI) -- The Ukrainian military said Tuesday that Russian forces carried out intense shelling across the entire eastern front line of the Donbas region, attacking military and civilian infrastructure.

Ukrainian officials said Moscow has focused mostly on holding Russian positions to prevent counterattacks and carrying out reconnaissance missions.

Officials also blamed Russian attacks for a university dormitory strike in the southern port town of Mykolaiv, where fighting has picked up since late last week.

Vitalii Kim, head of the Mykolaiv regional administration, said the attack happened before dawn Tuesday.

"At the moment of shelling, a security guard of the building was injured," Kim said, according to CNN. "According to preliminary information, one of the districts was hit by MLRS Smerch, the other one by S-300 missiles."

Kyiv's general staff reported several Ukrainian successes against Russian advances on Tuesday.

The staff said that Ukrainian troops repelled Russian assaults around Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast, which is one of two regions that make up the Donbas. The other is the Luhansk province.

The staff said Moscow also deployed several units near the villages of Bairak and Dementiivka in Kharkiv Oblast, but were pushed back by Ukrainian troops. Russia also tried, unsuccessfully, to storm an area near the village of Trudoliubivka in Kherson Oblast, they said.

The fighting on Tuesday came after the United States announced an additional $550 million in military weaponry to Ukraine. The weapons would come from the Department of Defense stockpile, U.S. officials said.

The delivery is the 17th to Ukraine and is part of more than $8 billion in U.S.-funded arms for Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24.

Meanwhile, Russian officials said Tuesday a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan is helping to destabilize the geopolitical landscape.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the United States "is bringing destabilization to the world" by sending Pelosi to Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway territory. Beijing has repeatedly warned the United States against allowing Pelosi to visit the island.