Russia wants to capture Bakhmut by the end of October

This was told by Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Malyar in an interview with the media platform We are Ukraine . She reported:

The Russians set their troops - for the fifth time since the start of a full-scale invasion - a deadline when they must fully reach the administrative border of the Donetsk region. Now they have a plan that they should fully occupy Bakhmut by the end of this month.

Malyar said that heavy fighting was going on in the Bakhmut direction. But the Armed Forces of Ukraine keep the defense and do not allow the invaders to advance. Bakhmut remains almost the only direction where the Russians are trying to attack.

The Deputy Minister of Defense stressed that in some areas in the east the Armed Forces of Ukraine are advancing, but in the Donetsk region, the Russians continue to advance.