On Friday, Russia asserted that Ukrainian forces were encircled in the battleground city of Bakhmut.
According to Yan Gagin, a spokesperson of the Russia-installed authorities in Donetsk, fighters of the Wagner private military firm grabbed control of the last road used for supplies of the Ukrainian army, reducing opportunities for additional delivery.
The claims received no immediate response from Ukraine.
Bakhmut, a transportation and logistics hub in the Ukrainian district of Donetsk, which is a part of the industrialized Donbas region, has been under attack by Russian forces for months.
The leader of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, asserted in late March that the battle for the city “almost destroyed the Ukrainian army” and “battered” his organization as well.