Fighting raged in and around Bakhmut as Ukraine mocked Russian claims to have captured the administrative centre of the eastern Ukrainian city, saying Russian forces had raised a victory flag over "some kind of toilet".
A satellite image shows smoke from recently dropped ordnance, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in southern Bakhmut, Ukraine, March 6, 2023. Maxar Technology/Handout via REUTERS/File photo
But Ukraine's military poured scorn on that claim and said fighting was raging around the city council building, as well as in other nearby towns. Russian forces, bogged down in a war of attrition after a series of setbacks, are seeking a victory from their winter offensive but have suffered huge casualties around Bakhmut.
Yuriy Kruk, head of the regional military administration in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, said the region was struck by several drones and there was damage but he did not specify the extent.