Russian troops are pounding supply lines near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut to try to halt advances by Ukraine's military, according to soldiers near the front line.
Set back from the city known by both sides as the "meat grinder" because of the ferocity of fighting, soldiers with an anti-aircraft unit monitored the battlefield on tablets as the sound of shelling rumbled near their positions.
"Now, for the most part, as we have started to advance, (the Russians) are shelling all the routes to the front positions, so our armoured vehicles can't deliver more infantry, ammunition and other things," said Petro Podaru, the unit's commander.
"The enemy conducts (air) reconnaissance daily. They fly very often," said a Ukrainian soldier with the call sign Barber.
"This time, at this moment, they're bringing in more Lancets (Russian military drones). We try to work, we try to detect them, and, of course, we're trying to destroy them."
The anti-aircraft unit said its location could not be disclosed for security reasons.
Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield situation.
STEPPING STONE
Moscow sees Bakhmut, a city of about 70,000 before Russia's full-scale invasion nearly 15 months ago, as a possible stepping stone towards capturing the rest of the eastern Donbas region.
Russia's Wagner mercenary group, which is spearheading the Russian assault in Bakhmut, says it has moved forward inside the city, and Kyiv has acknowledged those small gains.
But Kyiv has for days been hailing battlefield successes around the city that could eventually trap the Wagner forces inside the city.
"Wagner climbed into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap", General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, said this week.
"Unfortunately, units of the Russian Defence Ministry have withdrawn up to 570 metres to the north of Bakhmut, exposing our flanks," Prigozhin said in a voice message. "Please do not give up the flanks."
