FILE - Smoke rises from the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal in Mariupol during shelling, in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, May 7, 2022. Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine say that at least 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war captured during the fighting for Mariupol have been killed by Ukrainian shelling. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov, File)
Russia reinforced its defenses in southern Ukraine over the weekend, while continuing to target Kyiv’s strongholds in the Donetsk area in the east, Britain said on Monday.
Over the previous 30 days, Bakhmut has been Moscow’s most successful axis in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas, albeit Russia has only advanced approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles) in the region, according to the British military ministry in a regular intelligence update.
