A Russian reserve army of 15,000 soldiers is pinned down near Bakhmut and will be destroyed, says Ukraine's spy chief

• Russia has deployed a new military formation of about 15,000 soldiers to fight around Bakhmut.
• Ukraine's spy chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said the 25th Army was deployed earlier than planned.
• Budanov said Ukraine is pinning down Putin's forces near Bakhmut to prevent redeployment to the south.

Ukraine is pinning down a newly created Russian reserve force near Bakhmut and is confident the 15,000-strong unit will be destroyed, Ukraine's spy chief says.

Kyrylo Budanov told The War Zone that Ukraine was pinning down Russian forces in Bakhmut to prevent them from being deployed to other axes where its counteroffensive is pushing forward.