![A Ukrainian serviceman in a frontline shelter near Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region. Reuters](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/GM6HZWPKQW4RGDOP7IZCCZR47U.jpg?smart=true&auth=ede33b87be99c59cd68ce23844d78d77ea932b4cc643876221d103b38eabc72c&width=400&height=225)
A Ukrainian serviceman in a frontline shelter near Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region. Reuters
A Ukrainian serviceman in a frontline shelter near Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region. Reuters
Battle for Bakhmut stalls as Russians take 'weeks to capture single house'
Mercenaries, many of them convicts, are playing a key role in the fight for the city