"In the Toretsk direction, the Russian occupiers stepped up and started five assaults at once – in the areas of Niu-York, Pivnichne, and Pivdene," they wrote."The Defense Forces of Ukraine control the situation and repel the aggressor."According to the crowd-sourced DeepState monitoring service, Russian forces were attacking in the direction of the villages of Pivnichne and Druzhba, just east of Toretsk.In comments to AFP, residents of Toretsk reported an increase in attacks on the town."They started shooting in the morning and it was going on all day long," one person said.Over the last few weeks, attention has been focused on Russia's stalled offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, but Russian troops have been steadily advancing in the country's easternmost Donetsk Oblast, which remains Moscow's primary target.Moving west from the ruins of the two occupied Donetsk Oblast cities – Bakhmut and Avdiivka – Russian troops have overrun several small villages and come close to Chasiv Yar and a strategic highway south of the town.Elsewhere, Russian troops are intensifying attacks in the border areas of Luhansk Oblast with the aim of capturing the village of Borova in neighboring Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade said on June 18.In a post on Telegram, the brigade said Moscow's forces are using tanks, FPV drones, and anti-aircraft missiles in an effort to advance, and also claimed they had deployed chemical weapons, without providing further details.