Continuing Clashes in Bakhmut

The Ukrainian armed forces stated today, Sunday, that "clashes have continued around the devastated city of Bakhmut in the east of the country, despite a recent decrease in the intensity of fighting, while Moscow continues to suffer significant losses." The Ukrainian military's high command reported in its daily update that "Russian forces carried out two failed operations around Bakhmut and launched several airstrikes and artillery attacks on nearby villages." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview published yesterday, Saturday, said that his forces are ready to launch the long-awaited counteroffensive to reclaim territories currently occupied by Russia. Russia now controls nearly all of Donetsk and Luhansk, in addition to vast areas in the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine.