Bakhmut and Soledar, two towns in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, are the scene of intense battle between Russian and Ukrainian forces, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday.
The Donetsk and Luhansk areas, which make up the larger industrial Donbas, and the strategically significant Kherson province in the south have seen particularly heavy fighting this weekend. They make up three of the four provinces that Putin annexed to Russia last month, moves that Ukraine and its Western allies have denounced as illegal.
Since capturing the important industrial towns of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk in June and July, Bakhmut has been a target for Russia’s armed forces as they slowly advance through the area. Near Bakhmut, to the north, is Soledar.
