Russian mercenary boss says Bakhmut effectively surrounded

Russian troops and mercenaries were closing off the last access routes to the besieged Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Friday, on the cusp of Moscow's first major victory in half a year after the bloodiest fighting of the war.

The head of Russia's Wagner private army said the city, which has been blasted to ruins, was now almost completely surrounded, with only one route out left open for Ukraine's troops, Reuters reports.

Reuters journalists west of the city saw Ukrainians digging new trenches for defensive positions there, while the commander of a Ukrainian drone unit inside the city for months said he had been ordered to withdraw.

Victory in Bakhmut, with a pre-war population of about 70,000, would give Russia the first major prize of a costly winter offensive after it called up hundreds of thousands of reservists last year. It says it would be a stepping stone to capturing the surrounding Donbas region, a major war aim.

Ukraine, which recaptured swathes of territory in the second half of 2022 but whose forces have been on the defensive for three months, says the city has little strategic value but that the huge losses there could determine the course of the war.

In a video filmed on a rooftop in an undisclosed location, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, dressed in a combat uniform, said he was calling on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to order the evacuation of Bakhmut to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.

"Units of the private military company Wagner have practically surrounded Bakhmut. Only one route (out) is left," he said. "The pincers are closing."

The camera then panned to show three captured Ukrainians - an older man and two young boys - who looked frightened and asked to be allowed to go home, in what appeared to be a choreographed appearance under extreme stress.

Both sides say they have inflicted devastating losses in Bakhmut. Kyiv has insisted its forces are still holding out there while acknowledging that the situation has deteriorated this week.

Volodymyr Nazarenko, a deputy commander in the National Guard of Ukraine, told Ukrainian NV Radio the situation was "critical", with fighting going on "round the clock".

"They take no account of their losses in trying to take the city by assault. The task of our forces in Bakhmut is to inflict as many losses on the enemy as possible. Every metre of Ukrainian land costs hundreds of lives to the enemy," he said.

"We need as much ammunition as possible. There are many more Russians here than we have ammunition to destroy them."

The commander of a Ukrainian drone unit active in Bakhmut, Robert Brovdi who goes by the name "Madyar" said in a video posted on social media that his unit had been ordered by the military to withdraw immediately from the city.

He said he had been fighting there for 110 days, and gave no reason for the order to leave.