ukrainian and russian forces are fighting in the northern suburbs of the city of bakhmut which has been battered by seven months of fighting. oleksandr marchenko, the deputy mayor, confirmed the street clashes, but said the russians haven t taken control. western analysts say the scene has been set for ukrainian forces to carry out a fighting withdrawal. a british defence ministry update said ukrainian soldiers are digging new trenches west of the city and are being reinforced by elite troops. the capture of bakhmut would be the first russian victory of note in more than six months of fighting. meanwhile, according to the supreme commander of nato troops in europe, general christopher cavoli said the scale of the war is unbelivable with 2,000 large battle tanks destroyed, more than 200,000 russian soldiers and over 1,800 officers killed or wounded. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, james landale, sent this report from the capital, kyiv. this is bakhmut or at least what is lef
the capture of bakhmut would be the first russian victory of note in more than six months of fighting. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, sent this report from the capital, kyiv. this is bakhmut, or at least what is left of it, after some of the fiercest fighting since russia invaded ukraine. for more than six months, russian shells and missiles have rained down on the city. thousands of russian soldiers have died trying to seize it and now their commanders are growing increasingly confident. translation: we have - almost surrounded bakhmut. there is only one road that remains in and out of the city. the pincers are closing. before we were fighting a professional ukrainian army but now we fight against old men and boys. ukrainian forces are still defending the city street by street and reports suggest reinforcements are being sent in. but these russian troops say the ukrainian army is destroying bridges like these, potentially to prepare for what western analysts ca
the rules will have to be changed. china s president, xijinping, has been defending his controversial zero covid strategy as a historic communist party congress kicks off in beijing. the iranian authorities say four inmates are dead after a fire at a prison in the capital as protests continue. more than 1,000 paddington bears and other teddies left by the public in memory of the late queen elizabeth are to be sent to charity. good afternoon. the new chancellor, jeremy hunt, has asked conservative mps to get behind the prime minister, liz truss. he has insisted that she remains in charge of the government and said the country needed stability, not another protracted leadership campaign . mr hunt is holding talks with ms truss today on further changes to the government s tax and spending plans, which led to turmoil on the financial markets. she s faced another blow to her authority with criticism from the us president, joe biden. 0ur political correspondent, peter saull, repor