Russian forces bypass key Ukraine stronghold in bid to cut off its supplies

Ukrainian servicemen collect damaged ammunition on the road at the front line near Chasiv Yar (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukraine’s 24th Mechanised Brigade via AP)

Russian forces are bypassing a key stronghold in eastern Ukraine that they have fought for months to capture and are focusing instead on cutting supply lines to it, a Ukrainian official said.

Russian troops are going around the vital logistics hub of Pokrovsk, where a steadfast Ukrainian defence has kept them at bay, and are taking aim at a highway that leads from there to the central Ukraine city of Dnipro, Major Viktor Trehubov, a local Ukrainian army spokesperson, told The Associated Press.