Ukrainian and Russian armed forces are engaged in extremely bloody fighting in the city of Bakhmut, even as the Ukrainian Orthodox celebrate Easter. However, Kyiv troops are still holding out, the Ukrainian army said on Saturday, according to Reuters.

“Unprecedented in recent decades, bloody battles are taking place in the middle of the urban development of the city,” said the spokesman of the military command in the east of Ukraine, Serhii Tserevatii.

“Our soldiers, in bloody and fierce battles, do everything to reduce the fighting capacity (of the enemy) and break his morale. Every day, in every corner of this city, they do it successfully,” he told the “1+1” TV channel.

The Ministry of Defense of Russia reported on Saturday afternoon that the mercenaries of the “Wagner” PMC captured two districts on the northern and southern outskirts of the city. The airborne units of the Russian army are supporting the declared advance, restraining the Ukrainian forces on the flanks, he added.

Wagner had led the Russian effort to capture Bakhmut since last summer, the longest and deadliest battle of the war for both sides.

Reuters could not independently confirm the information from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The British Ministry of Defense wrote in an assessment on Friday that Ukrainian forces were forced to cede some territory in Bakhmut as Russia launched a new assault on the area with intense artillery fire for two days.

Bakhmut, which had a pre-war population of about 70,000, has been the main target of Russia’s winter offensive, which has so far produced scant success despite infantry ground fighting of an intensity not seen in Europe since World War II.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi did not mention Bakhmut in his daily video address on Saturday and confirmed Kyiv’s desire to join NATO as soon as possible.

Before that happens, Ukraine will need effective security guarantees, he said, but did not elaborate.

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