Over 60% of Bakhmut is now destroyed as Russian forces attempt an advance on the city in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, a Ukrainian official said Wednesday, APA reports citing CNN.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk region military administration, said two civilians died in the city on Wednesday due to shelling.

"Whatever attempts to enter the city the enemy makes, it fails to advance. Whatever advances they had, they have been pushed back to their previous positions, outside the city limits," Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television. "In fact, they are now in the flat devastated area, which also contributes to their huge personnel losses."