Battles Raging in Bakhmut but City Is HoldingUkrainian troops holding out in Bakhmut are facing increased pressure as they help civilians fleeing the besieged eastern city. A woman was killed and two men were badly wounded Saturday, while trying to leave the city over a makeshift bridge, according to a Ukrainian army representative on the ground. Kyiv might be strategizing about a controlled pullout, according to some indications. British military intelligence officials and a Washington-based research group reported that Ukraine has moved to destroy strategic bridges near the city, which has been a key target of Russia's long grueling assault in the east. Ukrainian National Guard Deputy Commander Volodymyr Nazarenko told Ukrainian broadcaster Kyiv24 Saturday the front line in Bakhmut has been stabilized over the past few days by Ukrainian troops, and the city remains under Ukrainian control despite intense and ongoing attacks by Russian forces. SEE ALSO: “Every hour in Bakhmut is like hell. The enemy had successes in the north, northwest of Bakhmut a week ago. Ukrainian soldiers are fighting back. Over the past few days, the front line has been stabilized thanks to our hard work and efforts,” Nazarenko said. Responding to reports of the withdrawal of some Ukrainian troops, Serhiy Cherevatyi, the spokesman of the eastern grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, told CNN Saturday that Ukrainian soldiers are rotating positions in Bakhmut in controlled, planned cycles. Cherevatyi said there have been hostilities around Bakhmut, in the villages of Vasiukivka and Dubovo-Vasylivka to the north of the city and in the villages of Ivanivske and Bohdanivka to the west. Ukrainian units over the past 36 hours destroyed two key bridges just outside Bakhmut, including one linking it to the nearby town of Chasiv Yar—along the last remaining Ukrainian resupply route—according to U.K. military intelligence officials and other Western analysts. Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia's Wagner Group mercenary force, posted a video Saturday allegedly showing coffins that he said contained bodies of Ukrainian soldiers being sent to territory held by Kyiv. In the video, Prigozhin, wearing military gear, said, "We are sending another shipment of Ukrainian army fighters home. They fought bravely and perished. That's why the latest truck will take them back to their motherland."\n\nThe footage shows men in uniform nailing shut wooden coffins and loading them onto a truck. Ukraine says the city has little intrinsic strategic value but notes huge losses there could determine the course of the war. Capturing Bakhmut not only would give Russian fighters a rare battlefield gain after months of setbacks but it could pierce Ukraine’s supply lines and allow Kremlin forces to press toward other Ukrainian strongholds in the eastern Donetsk region. The British intelligence update on Twitter said Bakhmut is vulnerable to Russian attacks on three sides, but Ukraine is reinforcing the areas with elite units. Meanwhile, Russia’s defense minister visited Russian soldiers in Ukraine on Saturday. SEE ALSO: The ministry said in a statement on the messaging app Telegram that Sergei Shoigu “inspected the forward command post of one of the formations of the Eastern Military District in the South Donetsk direction." Shoigu has been criticized for Russia’s poor performance in its war against Ukraine. In a video released Saturday, the military chief was seen handing out medals to Russian military forces. Zelenskyy’s focus\n\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address Friday that he was engaged in meetings and negotiations with several entities. The president said the main impetus for his meetings has been to hold Russia accountable for its actions. “We are doing everything to ensure that the International Criminal Court is successful in punishing Russian war criminals,” the Ukrainian leader said. The United States announced Friday a new package of military aid for Ukraine that totals about $400 million, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. SEE ALSO: "This military assistance package includes more ammunition for U.S.-provided HIMARS and howitzers, which Ukraine is using so effectively to defend itself, as well as ammunition for Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Armored Vehicle Launched Bridges, demolitions munitions and equipment, and other maintenance, training and support," he said. The package will be funded using the presidential drawdown authority, which authorizes the president to transfer articles and services from U.S. stocks without congressional approval during an emergency, Blinken said in announcing the aid. The Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge is a portable, 60-foot folding metal bridge that is carried on top of a tank body. Providing that system now could help Ukrainian troops as they launch an expected spring offensive, making it easier for them to cross rivers to battle Russian forces. Including this latest package, the U.S. has now provided more than $32 billion in military aid to Ukraine. The vehicle bridges and ammunition in the package can be delivered quickly to the front lines because they will be taken from existing Pentagon stocks. European Union countries also are working to deliver thousands of shells to Ukraine under a $1 billion program. Particularly significant will be the delivery of 155 mm NATO-standard howitzer rounds that are urgently needed in advance of an intense spring campaign, according to the Financial Times, citing anonymous EU officials. This ammunition, according to the FT report, is critical to keep Ukraine in a fight in which Russia fires on average an estimated four shells for every Ukrainian shell fired. "We need as much ammunition as possible. There are many more Russians here than we have ammunition to destroy them," Volodymyr Nazarenko, a deputy commander in the national guard of Ukraine, told Ukrainian NV Radio. Top US official U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Friday to attend a conference on justice and war crimes. The U.S. Justice Department said Garland held several meetings at the conference in the western city of Lviv to reaffirm “our determination to hold Russia accountable for crimes committed in its unjust and unprovoked invasion against its sovereign neighbor.” Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters.