The Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022 continues, with casualties rising on both sides.
Ukrainian forces are mounting a strong counteroffensive against Russian troops, reclaiming territory lost when Moscow launched its invasion.
Ukraine has managed to withstand the Russian onslaught with the help of Western military aid, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy regularly calls on the world to do more.
Towns around Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region reportedly see heavy fighting between Ukrainian forces and mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group, which is said to be intent on capturing the mining hub.
Ukraine’s military has sent reinforcements to Soledar, near Bakhmut, as the Russian side tried to storm the town from several directions, Reuters quotes the Defense Ministry as saying.
Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin reportedly eyes the area’s network of salt and gypsum mines, which can hold troops as well as tanks and other vehicles.
The U.K. is considering supplying Ukraine with Britain’s Challenger 2 battle tank, becoming the first Western nation to provide such heavy armor to the war-torn country, Sky News reports, citing a Western source.
Such a move “would encourage others to give tanks,” a Ukrainian source is quoted as saying.