Ukraine official says Russia massing forces around a key city in the country’s east

By SUSIE BLANN
Associated Press

KYIV (AP) — A Ukrainian official says Russia is accumulating large forces around Chasiv Yar as it seeks to make a push on the key eastern city to the west of Bakhmut, which fell to Moscow last May. Troops from a tank unit defending that direction say they face constant attacks with Russia sending wave after wave of infantry and a variety of artillery and drones and cannot match the firepower and personnel that Russia is able to use against them. With the full-scale war now into its third year, Russian forces have been bludgeoning some Ukrainian defensive positions into submission, deploying overwhelming amounts of artillery and troop numbers in an effort to punch through defensive lines at targeted points.