Ukrainian forces hold around half of Toretsk, trying to beat back Russian advance, local official says

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces control around half of the strategic city of Toretsk in eastern Ukraine as they attempt to stave off assaults by Russian troops, the city's local authorities said on Friday.

"Approximately 40-50 percent of the city can be said to be under the control of the Ukrainian armed forces, while the rest of the territory is captured by the enemy," Vasyl Chynchyk, head of Toretsk city military administration, said on national TV.

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Military analysts say that capturing the hilltop Toretsk would allow Russian invasion forces to further complicate logistics for Ukrainian forces in much of the east.

Ukraine's military reported eight clashes on the Toretsk front in the past day, with the main push focused on the city and near Shcherbynivka. Chynchyk said Russian forces had not advanced in the city in the past 24 hours.

Some 1,150 people remain in the embattled city, he said, as evacuations continued with the help of soldiers and national police.

Russian forces have been gradually but steadily advancing in the east recently, taking the bastion town of Vuhledar this month with Kyiv's troops stretched thin more than 2-1/2 years into Moscow's full-scale invasion.

(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko; editing by Mark Heinrich)