Only third of Bakhmut under Ukrainian control, says presidential adviser

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He however denied reports that Russian forces had surrounded the city.

An adviser to Ukraine's presidency said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces controlled only a third of Bakhmut, the city in eastern Ukraine. The city is currently witnessing fierce battle between forces of Russia and Ukraine. The city has seen the longest battle of the Russian invasion.

"Bakhmut is one-third controlled by Ukraine, as international observers have established," Sergiy Leshchenko said in a briefing broadcast by the presidency's Telegram channel Leshchenko however denied that Russian forces had surrounded the city. A Russian aide in the Donetsk region had recently made such a claim. The official had claimed that Bakhmut was "practically surrounded".

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner paramilitary group spearheading Russia's assault in eastern Ukraine, said last week that his forces were in control of around 70 per cent of the city.

Bakhmut -- which once had an estimated population of around 70,000 people -- has been virtually emptied of civilians over months of fierce fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

According to Ukraine, Bakhmut is key to holding back Russian forces along the whole eastern front.

Both sides have invested heavily in the fight, even though analysts say the city has little strategic value.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War said on Tuesday that Russian forces controlled "roughly 65 per cent" of Bakhmut after advancing in recent days.

Ukraine said last week its forces were "managing to stabilise the situation" around Bakhmut and that a counterattack could be launched soon against "exhausted" Russian forces near the city.

(With inputs from agencies)

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