Ukraine War: Zelenskyy says situation on frontline is still 'difficult'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday said the situation on the frontline of his forces' battles against Russia remained "difficult" in many areas.

"The frontline situation remains very difficult in the key areas of the Donbas - Bakhmut, Soledar, Maryinka, Kreminna," said Zelenskyy in his nightly address.

"For a long time, there has been no living place left on the land of these areas that has not been damaged by shells and fire. 

"The occupiers actually destroyed Bakhmut, another Donbas city that the Russian army turned into burnt ruins," Zelenskyy added.

Even though it's been a quarter of a year since the Russians left the Kharkiv area, troops are still vigilant. 

Fierce clashes continue however these trenches have resisted the occupiers ever since.

The counterattack lasted a couple of days. But how long this area will have to be defended, no one knows. 

Troops continue to guard villages along the route to Kharkiv.

This comes as residents from the small village of Kotliary, in the Kharkiv region, rushed to fix their houses on Friday in the aftermath of a Russian strike that killed one and wounded two, as temperatures plummet in the harsh Ukrainian winter. 

Mykolay Pokhomov, a local resident, says he has no idea as to why the Russians chose to strike his village, but his only theory is "they missed their target by a lot."