KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that “only a few civilians” were left in the eastern frontline town of Bakhmut that has endured months of fierce fighting.

“Last year, 70,000 people lived there. Now only a few civilians are left there,” Zelensky said on Facebook.

Following months of humiliating defeats Russian forces are now seeking to wrest control of the eastern region of Donetsk where Bakhmut has become the epicentre of fighting.

To gain control of the town once known for its vineyards and cavernous salt mines, Russia has relied on mercenaries, prison conscripts and newly mobilised soldiers.

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In Bakhmut, “there is no place that is not covered with blood. There is no hour when the terrible roar of artillery does not sound,” Zelensky said.

“Still, Bakhmut stands,” he added.

This month the president made a surprise trip to Bakhmut, describing the war-battered town as Ukraine’s frontline “fortress”.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Ukrainian army said Moscow’s forces were continuing “offensive actions” in the direction of Bakhmut.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, has called the fight for the city the “Bakhmut meat grinder”.