KYIV, Ukraine (Dispatches) -- Fierce fighting is raging for control of the center of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the longest-running and bloodiest battle of the conflict, Russian and Ukrainian forces said on Monday.
Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has claimed to be leading Moscow’s charge for the industrial city, which has been the epicenter of fighting for months.
The Ukrainian military said: “Wagner assault units are advancing from several directions, trying to break through our troops’ defensive positions and move to the center of the city.”
“In fierce battles, our defenders are inflicting significant losses on the enemy,” it said in a morning briefing.
Analysts are divided over the strategic significance of Bakhmut as a military prize but the city has gained important political stature, with both sides pouring significant resources into the fight.
Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin also acknowledged that his forces were experiencing determined resistance as they seek to capture the center of the city.
“The situation in Bakhmut is difficult, very difficult. The enemy is battling for every meter,” he said in a post on social media.
“The closer we are to the city centre, the more difficult the battles get and the more artillery there is... Ukrainians are throwing endless reserves (at the fight),” Prigozhin said.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said late on Sunday his forces had killed more than 1,100 Russian soldiers in the past few days as they fought for control of Bakhmut.
Russian forces sustained 1,500 “sanitary losses”, soldiers wounded badly enough to keep them out of action, he said in his nightly video address.
Russia’s defense ministry said earlier in the day that its forces had killed more than 220 Ukrainian service members over the past 24 hours in the Donetsk region.
Prigozhin said Wagner “will begin to reboot” and start hiring once Bakhmut is captured. Wagner has opened recruitment centers across 42 cities to replenish its ranks.
Ukraine has decided to stay and fight on in the mining town, after initial signs it was planning to withdraw, to grind down Russia’s best units ahead of an expected spring offensive by Ukrainian forces.
Elsewhere, Russia’s air defense shot down four missiles over its Belgorod region bordering Ukraine on Monday, its governor said, adding that one person was injured.
The Russia-controlled Ukrainian city of Donetsk was shelled four times on Sunday, with residential areas and power lines hit and Russian-installed officials blaming Ukraine.
Ukraine almost never claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia and on Russia-controlled territory in Ukraine.