 Ukrainian forces defending Bakhmut are facing increasingly strong pressure from Russian forces, British military intelligence set on March 4, with intense fighting taking place in and around the eastern city. Explosions could be heard in Reuters footage showing Ukrainian soldiers digging trenches on Bakhmut's outskirts. Ukraine is reinforcing the area with elite units, while regular Russian army and forces of the Russian private military Wagner group have made further advances into Bakhmut's northern suburbs, the British Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin on Twitter. Two key bridges in Bakhmut have been destroyed within the last 36 hours, it said, adding that Ukrainian-held resupply routes out of the city are increasingly limited. One of those bridges connected Bakhmut to the city's last main supply route from the Ukrainian-held town of Chasev Yar, about 13 kilometers to the west, it said. Ukraine's military command said Russia was still trying to surround Bakhmut but added that over the past day Ukrainian forces had beaten back Russian attacks in the city. The Ukrainian briefing note also said Russian attacks had been foiled in the villages of Ivanovsk and Bodnivka, both of which lie less than 8 km west of Bakhmut city center he captured of those villages, which flanked the crucial Bakhmut Chasev Yar road on either side, would leave the city on the cusp of total Russian encirclement.