Russian troops and mercenaries unleashed a barrage of shells on the final approaches to the besieged Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Friday, bringing Moscow closer to its first major victory in six months after the bloodiest fighting of the war, AFP and Reuters reported.

Prigozhin, the head of Wagner’s mercenaries, said the city, which had been reduced to rubble by a more than seven-month Russian offensive, was almost completely surrounded, with only one road still open to Ukrainian troops.

Reuters observed intense Russian shelling of routes leading west from Bakhmut, in an apparent attempt to block Ukrainian forces’ access to and from the town. The bridge in the nearby village of Gromove was damaged by Russian tank fire.

Ukrainian soldiers were working to repair damaged roads, and new troops were heading to the front line, a sign that Ukraine was not yet ready to surrender the city. In the west, the Ukrainians dug new trenches for defensive positions.

The Russian state news agency RIA published a video that allegedly shows Wagner fighter jets passing a damaged industrial facility. A fighter can be heard saying that the Ukrainian army is destroying infrastructure in settlements near Bakhmut in order not to be encircled by Russia.

The commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Sirskyi visited Bakhmut on Friday to hold a briefing with the local command on strengthening the defense capabilities of the frontline troops.