Ukraine has denied claims by Russia that it has taken full control of Bakhmut but warned the situation in the key battle town is “critical”.
Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s defence minister, pushed back on the claim by Yevgeny Prigozhin that his Wagner Group of mercenaries had seized the town around lunchtime.
"Heavy fighting in Bakhmut. The situation is critical," she said on the Telegram messaging app.
"As of now, our defenders control some industrial and infrastructure facilities in the area and the private sector."
Elsewhere, Volodymyr Zelensky is in Japan for the G7 summit, marking his first high-level visit to Asia since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.
His visit comes after a massive boost for Ukraine’s war effort, with US President Joe Biden telling G7 leaders that Washington supports joint allied training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.
The Kremlin responded by saying any move by Western countries to supply Ukraine with fighter jets would carry “colossal risks”.
