Moscow’s troops have ramped up their offence as they push to regain territory near Bakhmut, the head of Ukraine‘s ground forces wrote on Telegram. Ukrainian troops had recaptured the heights over Bakhmut and made some advances to the city’s west, north and south since Kyiv launched its summer counteroffensive. The eastern mining city Bakhmut was the site of the war’s bloodiest battle before falling into Russian hands in May, “Toward Bakhmut, the Russians have become more active and are trying to recapture previously lost positions. ... Enemy attacks are being repelled,” Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote in a Telegram update on Sunday afternoon. Ukraine‘s long-awaited counteroffensive has so far resulted in only incremental gains and heavy losses, with Ukrainian troops struggling to punch through Russian lines in the south. Meanwhile, Moscow’s forces have attempted to press forward in the northeast, likely with a view to distract Kyiv and minimize the number of troops it is able to send to key southern and eastern battles. The Ukrainian ground forces’ spokesperson similarly reported that Russian troops had “switched from defense to active defense” near Bakhmut, “putting pressure” on Ukrainian troops south of the city. Read More Anger as Ramaswamy seems to call Jewish Ukraine leader Zelensky ‘Nazi’ at GOP debate Russia seeks an 8-year prison term for an artist and musician who protested the war in Ukraine Russia reportedly is using Ukrainian POWs to fight in their homeland on Moscow's side Ukraine takes step towards EU membership as European Commission backs negotiations to begin