Ukraine’s presidency acknowledged on Monday that the situation is “difficult” north of Bakhmut, the most disputed region in eastern Ukraine, a day after Wagner’s mercenary group announced its capture of Krasnaya Gora, AFP and Agerpres reported.

Zelenskyi and the Ukrainian military in KharkivPhoto: President.gov.ua

“The difficult situation near Soledar: the city of Paraskoviyvka is the object of intense bombing and shelling,” the press service of the Kyiv City Council said in the diary.

The city of Soledar, captured by the Russians in January, is located north of Bakhmut, which Moscow has been trying to capture since the summer at the cost of heavy losses on both sides and extensive destruction.

The town of Paraskoviivka is next on the road to Bakhmut, in the immediate vicinity of the village of Krasna Gora, the capture of which was announced on Sunday by the boss of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Wagner’s fighters are at the forefront of this fight, AFP notes.

For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense on Monday officially confirmed that the Ukrainian city of Krasna Gora, located between the cities of Bakhmut and Soledar in the Donetsk region, was captured by Russian troops, reports EFE.

Russia says it has cut off almost all supply routes to Bakhmut

In its own daily report of the General Staff of Ukraine, it is stated that over the past day, Russian troops shelled 16 settlements near Bakhmut with tanks, mortars and artillery.

The person responsible for the Russian occupation of eastern Ukraine, separatist leader Denys Pushylin, said on Friday that Russian forces now control three of the four supply routes for Ukrainian troops to Bakhmut.

The Ukrainian presidency also recognized the “tense” situation near Vugledar, further south, where Russian troops are attacking.

“The Russians continue to constantly bomb neighboring cities,” the Kyiv administration said on Monday.

In Kherson in the south of Ukraine, three people were killed and one was injured as a result of explosions over the past day, the cited source reports.

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