The Armed Forces of Ukraine control the southwestern part of Bakhmut, the area of the Litak neighbourhood, the entrance to the city, while fighting for the flanks continues, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar has said in an interview with journalists at the "U4J conference: Respect. Support. Justice" conference in Kyiv, an LB.ua correspondent reports.
"As of now, there is fighting there. Our units control part of the district... There are industrial and infrastructure facilities and the private sector there. In fact, we control the entrance to the city there. The enemy has been mopping up the areas in Bakhmut that they control. We are now fighting for the flanks, because our advance along the flanks, in the north, south, on the outskirts of Bakhmut gave us a certain advantage," said Malyar.
According to her, Ukrainian troops occupied the dominant heights in Bakhmut, and thus our troops made it very difficult for the Russians to stay in the city.
"The enemy is now trying to recapture these dominant heights and take up favourable positions. So far, the enemy has not succeeded," she added.
According to Malyar, most of the city's high-rise buildings have been destroyed, while some have been preserved and are being used by the Russians to establish their positions.
"Today, we are able to shell some of them, thus complicating the enemy's situation," the deputy minister said and added that the Armed Forces "make it very difficult and annoying" for the occupiers.
Earlier today, Malyar also said that the defence of Bakhmut as a city had fulfilled its purpose. In the months-long battle for the city, a very powerful Russian force, the Wagner group, was destroyed.