KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian troops have launched helicopter raids and counteroffensives to try and ease the pressure on a key eastern city, as the Kremlin seeks a crucial battlefield victory with the U.S. push for peace shelved .

Street battles were being fought in Pokrovsk, a transport and supply hub whose capture could serve as a springboard for the Russian military to threaten bigger nearby cities. It would also hand Vladimir Putin new leverage at a delicate diplomatic moment, with the Russian leader set on capturing the entirety of the broader Donetsk region.

Putin's forces have been battling to take Pokrovsk for more than a year, but now appear on the verge of a breakthrough with the front lines in the city increasingly blurred.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that

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