It is very possible that Russia has entered the center of Bakhmut.

Bakhmut, a city in the Donetsk region, was almost completely destroyed. Photo: AFP

“Russia has made further gains and may well have entered the centre of Bakhmut and secured the western bank of the Bakhmutka River. Ukraine’s vital supply route 0506 west of Bakhmut is potentially under serious threat,” the UK Defence Intelligence Agency said in an update.

The British Ministry of Defense report also pointed out that Russian regular forces - including airborne troops - were reinforcing the attacks in the area, while Russian artillery was also fighting more effectively.

The months-long fighting in Bakhmut has turned it into the fiercest and bloodiest front since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out more than a year ago.

The information, if confirmed, would show that Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut are under great pressure.

On the same day, Ukraine said Russia was concentrating all its efforts to retake the city of Bakhmut. Kiev forces described the situation in the city as “difficult” but said they were holding out despite Russia’s numerical superiority.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraine’s Eastern Military Command, told Reuters that Ukraine had the situation in Bakhmut under control and was aware of Russia’s intentions. He said that while Moscow had achieved tactical success in some areas, it had paid a high price for it.

Ukrainian soldiers fire a howitzer at Russian positions on the front line in Lugansk. Photo: AP

Previously, on April 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hinted that he would withdraw troops from Bakhmut if his country's forces were at risk of being surrounded.

“Weapons and artillery are being used in Bakhmut on an unprecedented scale. The situation is very difficult and constantly changing. However, we are still holding on to Bakhmut, the Russians are not in control of the place. For me, the most important thing is not to lose our soldiers and of course in case we are in danger of being surrounded and losing soldiers, the generals there will make appropriate decisions,” he said.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said that the determination to stay in the “hot pot” of Bakhmut is aimed at wearing down Russian forces, while allowing Kiev more time to prepare for a planned counterattack later this spring.

For his part, Denis Pushilin, the Russian-appointed leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), said that the Ukrainian armed forces were trying to move their forces from Bakhmut to Avdiivka, another city in the Donbass region that Russia has recently attacked. According to Pushilin, Ugledar and Mariinka are also notable hotspots of fighting due to their strategic importance.

On April 6, TASS news agency quoted Mr. Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group in Russia, saying that Ukraine had not withdrawn from Bakhmut but was defending in the western part of the city.

“It must be made clear that the enemy will not retreat anywhere. They are organizing defenses inside the city, the first line along the railway system, followed by the high-rise area in the west of the city,” Prigozhin said.

According to Mr. Prigozhin, if Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut fall, they will take new positions in the suburbs and the city of Chasiv Yar in the west.