Ukraine Claims Fighting Rages Near Chasiv Yar, but Denies Russia Reached Suburbs

KYIV—The Ukrainian military claimed on Friday the battlefield situation was tense near the eastern town of Chasiv Yar, but denied Russian reports that Moscow’s troops had reached its suburbs. Russian forces are inching forward in the east after capturing Ukraine’s long-time eastern bastion of Avdiivka in February. A rapid capture of Chasiv Yar, a town with a pre-war population of 12,200 situated west of the ruined, Russian-controlled city of Bakhmut, would mark a grim setback for Kyiv and indicate mounting Russian battlefield momentum. Russia’s RIA news agency cited an official as saying Russian troops had entered the suburbs of the town, which Moscow sees as an important staging point for Kyiv’s troops that is also heavily fortified....