The situation in the city of Bakhmut, on the eastern frontline, is becoming “more and more difficult”, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Russian forces have been trying to take the city for over six months.
“The enemy is constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions”, Mr Zelensky stated.
The Ukrainian leader’s remarks came as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned China against arming Russia during a visit to Kyiv on Monday.
Some of the fiercest fighting to take place since Russia invaded Ukraine just over a year ago has taken place in Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, part of which is under the control of Russia and its separatist allies.
Recently efforts by Russian forces to capture the industrial city have intensified, with its troops gaining ground.
The separatist leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, said “practically all roads” into the city were “under Russian fire control”.
And the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, said the situation around Bakhmut was “extremely tense”.
“Despite significant losses, the enemy threw in the most prepared assault units of Wagner, who are trying to break through the defences of our troops and surround the city,” Gen Syrskyi said.
Speaking about the situation in his nightly address, President Zelensky said managing to gain a foothold in Bakhmut and ensuring its defence were being heavily compromised by Russia’s renewed onslaught.
He was “grateful to each and every person who is heroically holding” the area.
President Zelensky also called once again for modern combat aircraft to be sent so that “the entire territory of our country” can be defended from “Russian terror”.
BBC/Taiwo Akinola
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