Russia says still advancing in Bakhmut, UK says Moscow lost many tanks nearby

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as they visit Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine March 27, 2023. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

KYIV (Reuters) - Russian forces are still edging forward in the bombed-out eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a Moscow-installed official said on Tuesday, but British intelligence said a Russian tank division had taken heavy losses in the nearby town of Avdiivka.

The battle for Bakhmut, a mining city in the Donetsk region, has been the focus of Moscow's war in Ukraine for months, with both sides describing the fighting there as a "meat grinder".