Ukraine latest: Numerous Bakhmut attacks still being repelled, says Kyiv

March 4: Numerous attacks have been repelled in the area of eastern Donetsk over the last 24 hours, Ukraine's military says.

Russian forces claim they are about to take the eastern city of Bakhmut - the focus of intense fighting for many months.

The head of Russia's Wagner private army claims it is "practically encircled" with limited routes out.

The US has announced a further $400m (£333m) in military aid to boost Kyiv's depleted ammunition stocks.

The commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, visited Bakhmut on Friday for meetings with local commanders on how to bolster front-line forces.

Russian troops have been trying to take the city for over six months.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky warned this week that the situation on the eastern front line was becoming "more and more difficult".

A key concern for Ukraine is its ever-decreasing ammunition stocks as the high-intensity war with Russia shows no sign of slowing.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the country's latest package included high-precision Himars artillery rockets and howitzers "which Ukraine is using so effectively".

President Zelensky earlier stressed that artillery and shells were needed to "stop Russia".

The US is also sending tactical bridges ahead of Ukraine's expected offensive.

The delivery of such equipment allowing armoured vehicles to cross rivers and ditches comes as a number of Ukrainian military officials and experts have suggested the operation could be launched in the coming weeks.

Separately, a partial evacuation was on Thursday ordered in the north-eastern city of Kupiansk, Kharkiv region, which was liberated from the Russian occupation last September.

The regional authorities said families with children and people "with limited mobility" should leave due to "constant" shelling by Russian forces.

(BBC)