Russian mercenaries have claimed they now control more than 80% of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
Wagner mercenary group head Yevgeny Prigozhin made the claim in a video posted on Tuesday.
Bakhmut, a small eastern city in eastern Ukraine, has for months been the target of a major Russian offensive and has seen the heaviest fighting in the nearly 14-month war.
In a video published by a Russian military blogger on the Telegram messaging app, Prigozhin is seen showing on a map of the area how his forces are continuing their encirclement of the now devastated city, which before Russia’s invasion had been home to around 70,000 people.
“In Bakhmut, the larger part, more than 80% is now under our control, including the whole administrative centre, factories, warehouses, the administration of the city," said Prigozhin.
He used a red marker pen to highlight the relatively small, mainly residential area of the city that remained to be captured by Russian forces. “There the war continues," he said.
A top Ukrainian commander had said Russia was using “scorched earth" tactics on the city, as the Ukrainian city in the eastern Donetsk region and other cities and towns came under heavy bombardment this week.
“The enemy switched to so-called scorched earth tactics from Syria. It is destroying buildings and positions with air strikes and artillery fire," Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said of Bakhmut on Monday.
However, he added: “The situation is difficult but controllable.”
The battle for the largely ruined city on the edge of a chunk of Russian-controlled territory in Donetsk has been the bloodiest of the 13-month war. Kyiv and the West say the city has only symbolic importance.
Both sides have suffered heavy casualties in the Bakhmut fighting. Moscow’s military was also targeting the city of Avdiivka.
“The Russians have turned Avdiivka into a total ruin,” said Pavlo Kyrylenko, Donetsk’s regional governor, describing an air strike on Monday that destroyed a multi-storey building.
“In total, around 1,800 people remain in Avdiivka, all of whom risk their lives every day."
In Chasiv Yar, the first major town to Bakhmut’s west ,50-year-old humanitarian volunteer Maksym told Reuters: “It used to be scarier, but now we have got used to it. You don’t even pay attention.”
Ukraine’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured him in a phone call that Washington still backed Kyiv’s effort to win the war with Russia.
“During our call today, (Blinken) reaffirmed the ironclad U.S. support and vehemently rejected any attempts to cast doubt on Ukraine’s capacity to win on the battlefield," he tweeted.
“The U.S. remains Ukraine’s trustworthy partner, focused on advancing our victory and securing a just peace."
Ukraine’s military is widely expected to mount a counteroffensive in coming weeks against Russian forces.
