<div><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Kyiv conceded today that fighting with Russian forces north of Bakhmut was “difficult”, a signal that Ukrainian troops are coming under mounting pressure in the longest-running battle of Moscow’s invasion.</span><br></b></div><div><br></div><div>Russia has made capturing the destroyed city in the eastern Donetsk region its main military aim nearly one year into the war while Ukraine is determined not to cede more ground.</div><div><br></div><div>“The situation is difficult near Soledar: the village of Paraskoviivka is (coming) under intense shelling and assaults,” the Ukrainian presidency said in its daily report.</div><div><br></div><div>Paraskoviivka is a hamlet on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut, where Russian forces have been posting painstaking incremental gains for several weeks.</div><div><br></div><div>Russia’s defence ministry meanwhile said today Russian forces had captured Krasna Gora, another village adjacent to Paraskoviivka.</div><div><br></div><div>It said “volunteer assault units” with fire support from Russian artillery had “liberated” the settlement.</div><div><br></div><div>That announcement came after the Wagner private military group claimed to have captured the village and without any ground support from regular Russian forces.</div><div><br></div><div>The months-long battle for Bakhmut has exposed tensions between the paramilitary group and the Russian army though the Kremlin denies any rift.</div><div><br></div><div>In January, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed his fighters had taken control of nearby Soledar, but the Russian defence ministry said two days later that Moscow’s forces were controlling the town.</div><div><br></div><div>“After the capture of Soledar and the mass hype saying that there were other (soldiers) besides Wagner in Soledar, of course, the guys were very frustrated,” Prigozhin said Sunday.</div><div><br></div><div>“Within a 50km (31 miles) radius, more or less, only Wagner fighters remain, and they will take Bakhmut,” he added.</div><div><br></div><div>Russian forces have cut three out of four Ukrainian supply routes to Bakhmut, the Kremlin-appointed leader of the Donetsk region Denis Pushilin said last week.</div><div><br></div><div>Observers of the conflict have downplayed Bakhmut’s strategic importance, but the city has turned into a key political and symbolic prize.</div><div><br></div><div>The Ukrainian general staff said that Russian troops had shelled 16 settlements near Bakhmut with tanks, mortars and artillery the previous day.</div><div><br></div><div>Ukraine on Monday also reported a “tense” situation near Vugledar, another town in Donetsk under Russian attack, reports AFP.</div><div><br></div><div>“Russians continue to constantly shell the nearby settlements there,” the presidency said.</div><div><br></div><div>Meanwhile in southern Kherson three people died and one was injured in the past 24 hours due to Russian attacks, the presidency added.</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>