Russia stepped up its campaign to capture Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, pushing Ukrainian forces further from the city center as explosions rocked Russian-occupied Melitopol ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive targeting the south. Bakhmut has seen months of intense fighting as a bloody Russian onslaught pushes back Ukrainian units defending the city. Ukrainian forces still hold the city’s western districts but they have been subjected to particularly intense artillery fire since Wednesday, the U.K.’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.
