Russian military in Bakhmut are actually trapped: they cannot move around city and leave it either, - Ministry of Defense

Fierce fighting continues in the Lyman and Bakhmut directions, and the enemy is effectively trapped in Bakhmut itself: it cannot move freely, nor can it leave the city.

According to Censor.NET, citing Interfax-Ukraine, Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine Hanna Maliar said this during a national telethon.

"If we talk about the city of Bakhmut itself, the enemy is actually trapped there. Because on the one hand, they control most of the city, and we control only the southwestern part. But they cannot move around the city because our AFU does not allow them to do so, and they (the occupiers - Ed.) cannot actually leave the city. Our forces do not allow them to either," Maliar said.

Speaking about the situation around Bakhmut, the deputy minister said that Ukrainian soldiers on the southern flank are making some progress, while fighting continues on the northern flank.

Also read: Separate formations of Russian troops try to avoid manning units with prisoners for fear of riots - Defence Ministry

"It would be too early to call it an advance because the situation can change several times during the day. Until our troops are more firmly established, we usually do not talk about advances," she said.

At the same time, the Ministry of Defence stressed that the situation around Bakhmut is "very, very hot again", and in recent days, Russians have been deploying air assault troops.

Fierce fighting continues in the Lyman direction, and the enemy is trying to advance.

Also see: Ukrainian soldiers near Bakhmut captured an enemy dugout and are in it with the mined corpses of Russian occupiers. Photo report

"But in fact, if we summarise the result: we are gradually, but still advancing, the enemy is not advancing in any of the directions where it is advancing," Malyar said.

She noted that the occupiers are pulling up all their reserves and are not going to give up their positions easily, nor are they giving up their intentions to reach the borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

In addition, according to the deputy minister, the Ukrainian Defence Forces "are beating the enemy in the east so hard that in some areas their military began to leave their positions with entire units". According to Maliar, the enemy has started using "barrier detachments" and weapons pointed at their own backs, trying to ensure the stability of the troops."

Watch: Syrsky showed an assault on Russian positions on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut: Several territories were recaptured and a significant number of occupants were killed. VIDEO.