Kyiv stated Sunday it was holding back attacks from Russian soldiers still trying to surround Bakhmut, a now-destroyed eastern Ukrainian city that Moscow has actually been trying to catch for months.Ukraine has actually sworn to safeguard fortress Bakhmut but it has dealt with Russian troops identified to take the city that has actually developed into a political reward as the fight drags out.

The Ukrainian general staff stated more than 130 opponent attacks had actually been fended off over the previous day consisting of in Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut and Avdiivka.

The enemy continues its efforts to encircle the town of Bakhmut, it said on Sunday morning.Bakhmut has been mainly minimized to debris throughout the longest and bloodiest fight of the invasion.Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesperson for Ukrainian forces, stated on Saturday the situation was tough however under control in the city he referred to as a top priority target for the enemy.

There is battling in and around the city, the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) stated, alerting that Ukrainian supply paths were narrowing.

The Russians may have planned to surround Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut, however the Ukrainian command has actually indicated that it will likely withdraw rather than risk an encirclement, ISW stated Saturday.

Ukraine and Russia have because the summer season increasingly defended the city, whose symbolic value exceeded its military significance.RivalriesPro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk region posted a video claiming to show Wagner fighters in the suburbs north of Bakhmut, having taken control over the Stupki train station.Wagner, a personal army headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, has taken spotlight in the fight for the city, which has exposed rivalries with Russias conventional forces.

On Friday, Prigozhin stated his fighters had almost surrounded Bakhmut, and just one roadway remained under Ukrainian control.

Prigozhin has for weeks been advertising the advances of his males towards the eastern city.

Prigozhin frequently posts videos of himself alongside mercenaries, on the ground or even in a fighter jet, on the other hand with Russian generals criticized for shirking the frontline.In an uncommon exception, Russia on Saturday released a video of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu examining soldiers in frontline areas in Ukraine.

The ministry said Sergei Shoigu checked an advance command post in the South Donetsk instructions without specifying precisely where or when.He was seen taking a trip in a helicopter and speaking with a soldier in front of harmed buildings.The ISW believe tank said Shoigu went there likely to evaluate the level of Russian losses around Vugledar and the possibility of a more offensive in this instructions.

Zaporizhzhia hostageWhile the epicenter of the fighting is in the east of Ukraine, the death toll from a strike today on an apartment or condo block in southern Zaporizhzhia has now increased to 13.

Zaporizhzhia is one of the 4 areas-- along with Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson-- that Russia claims to have actually annexed however never totally controlled.Still, Moscows forces have held the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor given that March 4, 2022.

The plant has repeatedly made headlines and restored worries of nuclear disasters comparable to the fatal Chernobyl catastrophe that shook Ukraine in 1986.

The exiled mayor of Energodar, which houses the central, told AFP Russia utilizes the plant as a nuclear shield to for its troops and equipment.Kyiv and Moscow have actually blamed each other for shelling around the plant and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) posted observers there.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Saturday that Russia took the nuclear reactor captive a year ago, and turned the area of the (power plant) into a de facto military training ground.

Zelensky on Saturday also consulted with European Parliaments president Roberta Metsola, who advised for Ukraine to be enabled to begin EU subscription negotiations this year.The United States announced a new $400 million security aid bundle for Ukraine on Friday that included a range of ammo for Kyivs forces.