Bakhmut: Street fighting but Russia not in control—deputy mayor

(BBC) ⸻ Russian and Ukrainian forces are fighting in the streets of Bakhmut, but Russia does not control the eastern city. The remaining 4,000 civilians are living in shelters without access to gas, electricity or water. Bakhmut has seen months of fighting, as Russia tries to take charge. Thousands of Russian troops have died trying to take the city, which had a pre-war population of around 75,000. Ukrainian commanders estimate that Russia has lost seven times as many soldiers as they have. On Saturday, UK military intelligence said Russian advances in the northern suburbs had left the Ukraine-held sections vulnerable to Russian attacks on three sides. Oleksandr Marchenko accused the Russians of having "no goal" to save the city and that it wanted to commit "genocide of the Ukrainian people". There is no communication in the city so the city is cut out, the bridges are destroyed and the tactics the Russians are using is the tactic of parched land. It is hard to know what is going on without independent sources, so any reports of potential Ukrainian withdrawal should be treated with caution. Ukrainian commanders are beginning to calculate that the cost of defending Bakhmut is too great, and may want a controlled fighting withdrawal to protect the remaining Ukrainian forces. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the situation in the area was becoming "more and more difficult" and the Ukrainian military said it had repelled numerous attacks since Friday. The city was "almost destroyed", with bridges ruined and communication cut off, and the Russian military laid siege to the south-eastern port city of Mariupol at the outset of the invasion and took control after three months of artillery bombardment. Russia also claimed the Donbas town of Soledar, about 10km (6.2 miles) from Bakhmut, in January. On Friday, President Zelensky stressed that artillery and shells were needed to "stop Russia". US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the country's latest package included high-precision Himars artillery rockets and howitzers.