A former US Marine was reportedly killed on the outskirts of Bakhmut. According to CNN, which spoke to his mother and colleagues in Ukraine, Cooper “Harris” Andrews was likely hit by a mortar on April 19.

He died on the so-called “Road of Life”, the access road to Bakhmut, along which the Ukrainian army replenished its forces and evacuated the civilian population.

An activist group called the Resistance Committee, for which Andrews worked, said the former Marine was trying to help civilians leave the city.

His mother, Willow Andrews, told CNN that his body has not yet been found.

According to her, in November he left his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, and joined the Ukrainian Foreign Legion.

The US State Department said it could “confirm the death of a US citizen in Ukraine”, but did not name him.

Videos have surfaced on social media showing dramatic trench battles between Ukrainian and Russian soldiers for control of the so-called “road of life” to Bakhmut, the only road that can still supply Kyiv’s troops in the besieged city.

A central element of the fighting here is an attempt to control the trenches around the supply route, the Bakhmut-Listiansk highway, with Ukrainian and Russian forces constantly attacking and counter-attacking to gain the best possible position along it.

Two video recordings made by fighters of the 3rd brigade of the Kyiv Airborne Forces captured part of these battles, the images show that the famous “rasputitsa” – the rainy season, which turns roads and trenches into a muddy quagmire, has passed somewhat partially.

The Ukrainian military is believed to be waiting for improved weather conditions to launch a long-awaited offensive against the Russian occupiers, a fact also noted by the US Institute for the Study of War in its latest assessment of the conflict in Ukraine.