Denis Pushilin, head of the Russian occupation of Ukraine's Donetsk region, visited the center of Bakhmut. The city has been the epicenter of months of fighting in Ukraine and where the Russians seem to be advancing.
In recent days, Ukrainian forces appear to have lost ground in the city center, where several Russian war correspondents have visited in recent days and whose reports show a devastated city. Russian troops have advanced in recent months north and south of the city, cutting off several Ukrainian supply routes and seizing its eastern part.