President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Monday night admitted that the situation of his troops around Bakhmut in the east of the country is becoming very difficult, AFP reports.

Denis Pusilin Photo: Oleksandr Ryumin / TASS / Profimedia

“The situation is becoming increasingly difficult,” he said in his daily message. “The enemy systematically destroys everything that can be used to defend our positions,” he added, calling the Ukrainian military participating in the hostilities “real heroes.”

Since the summer, Moscow troops have been trying to capture the strategically important city of Bakhmut, which has become a symbol of the struggle for control over Donbas in eastern Ukraine.

In statements made public on Russian television on Monday, Denis Pushylin, the Moscow-appointed head of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, said that all access routes to the fortress city of Bakhmut were “within range of the guns” of pro-Russian forces.

Russian troops tried to surround Bakhmut for several weeks and managed to block several important supply routes for Ukrainian troops.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, said on Saturday that his men had captured the village of Yagidne on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut.

  • On the same topic: Why Russia is desperate to surround Bakhmut as soon as possible

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