In recent months, the Battle of Bakhmut has become the focus of the conflict, the front lines of which have moved little since late last year, leaving both sides struggling with progress.
“The situation is very difficult,” Colonel General Oleksandr Sersky, commander of the ground forces, said in a statement sent to the Telegram messaging app.
He added, “At the same time, the enemy in some areas of the city was counterattacked by our units and left some positions.”
The military said Cirsky made the comments while visiting troops on the front lines on Sunday.
He added that new Russian units, including paratroopers and fighters from the private security group Wagner, were “constantly pushed into battle” despite heavy casualties.
“The enemy is not in a position to take control of the city,” Sirsky said.
Russian forces have been making increasing gains in Bakhmut, but a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Sunday that forces defending the town could still be supplied with food, ammunition and medicine.
Ukraine said on Monday its forces repelled more than 36 Russian attacks on a section of the eastern front line that stretches from Bakhmut to Marinka, just west of Donetsk.
Kiev is preparing to launch a much-anticipated counterattack to retake large swaths of territory in the east and south occupied by Russian forces after the invasion, which Moscow describes as a “special military operation”.
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