British intelligence revealed that over the past four days, Wagner Group forces have seized control of most of the eastern part of Bakhmut city, adding that the Bakhmutka River now represents the front line in the city center. It noted that Ukrainian forces control the west of the town and have destroyed the main bridges over the river, which runs north to south through a strip of open land 200 to 800 meters wide between built-up areas.
It emphasized that with the Ukrainian units' ability to fire from fortified buildings to the west, this area has become a kill zone, likely posing a significant challenge to Wagner forces trying to continue their offensive westward. British intelligence concluded by stating that, nonetheless, Ukrainian forces and their supply lines to the west remain vulnerable to ongoing Russian attempts to encircle defenders from the north and south.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported that in the past 24 hours, Russian forces launched 29 airstrikes and 4 missile strikes on the Donetsk region, causing significant damage to infrastructure and civilian casualties. It added that the Ukrainian army has repelled over 100 attacks by Russian forces in efforts to advance in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions towards Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka, and Shakhtar. The ministry continued that Russian forces are conducting continuous assaults on the city of Bakhmut without interruption, while noting that the Ukrainian Air Force carried out 11 airstrikes on areas where Russian troops were concentrated and successfully targeted weapon depots and missile storage sites.
