Fighting in east Ukraine descends into trench warfare as Russia seeks breakthrough

Fighting around the key eastern Ukraine town of Bakhmut has descended into a bloody morass with hundreds of dead and injured reported daily, as neither Russian or Ukrainian forces were able to make a significant breakthrough after months of fighting.

As Russia moved fresh formations to the area in recent weeks, including reinforcements previously in the Kherson region, the fighting in the Bakhmut sector has descended into trench warfare reminiscent of the first world war.

Over the weekend, images emerged of Ukrainian soldiers in flooded, muddy trenches and battlefields dotted with the stumps of trees cut down by withering artillery barrages.

The focus of much of the recent fighting, however, has been the now-shattered town of Bakhmut itself, largely abandoned by its 70,000 residents, with both sides sending reinforcements for a battle that has continued relentlessly since the summer as Moscow has sought to secure a victory after a series of battlefield setbacks and retreats.

Recent video from the town, posted on social media, showed shelled-wrecked buildings, some reduced to rubble.

The fighting around Bakhmut continued as Ukraine warned civilians to prepare for more Russian strikes on Monday, with the possibility of a new round of evacuations from the capital during a relative lull from airstrikes on energy facilities and other key infrastructure in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, the west has stepped up preparations to boost humanitarian aid to Ukraine, so that the population can enjoy some warmth during their coldest months and keep the resolve of the nation as high as possible.

Russia has pounded energy facilities around Kyiv with a barrage of missile strikes, resulting in power outages and breaks in water supplies to the city.

And with temperatures hovering around freezing, expected to dip as low as -11C in little more than a week, international help was increasingly focused on items such as generators and autotransformers, to make sure blackouts that affect everything from kitchens to operating rooms were as limited and short as possible.

Over the next three days, leading Nato officials and foreign ministers will gather in Bucharest, Romania, where such humanitarian aspects will also be assessed.

Power supply has been restored to 17% of residents in the southern city of Kherson, which Ukraine reclaimed earlier this month. The Russians have continued pounding the city with artillery barrages.

The latest fighting continued as it emerged that the Pentagonwas considering a proposal from Boeing to supply Ukraine with cheap, small precision bombs fitted on to abundantly available rockets, allowing Kyiv to strike far behind Russian lines as the west struggles to meet demand for more arms.

Agencies contributed to this report