Russian Flag Raised in Bakhmut Amid Escalating Conflict.

Fighting has intensified around the contested front-line city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region, with the leader of the Russian paramilitary Wagner group raising a Russian flag near the strategic town's City Hall. The battle for Bakhmut has become a pivotal battlefield in the broader war for both Russia and Ukraine, with Moscow making its capture a core objective, while Ukrainian troops have held out against waves of Russian assaults there for more than six months.