Ukrainian forces cling onto besieged city, China pressed to help end war

The months-long battle for Bakhmut, one of the last urban centres in the eastern Donetsk province yet to fall to Moscow, has proven one of the bloodiest of Russia’s invasion.

Ukrainian and Russian forces battled in Bakhmut, the devastated eastern city which has become a symbol of Kyiv’s defiance, while seven civilians were reported killed by Ukrainian artillery strikes in Russian-controlled areas.