The defense of Bakhmut continues and recent days have shown that Ukraine can move forward and counter the Russian forces there, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Monday.
"The advance of our troops along the Bakhmut direction - that is the first successful offensive operation in the city's defense," Syrskyi, was quoted as saying on Ukraine's Media Military Centre Telegram messaging platform.
"The last few days have shown that we can move forward and destroy the enemy even in such extremely difficult conditions ... The operation to defend Bakhmut continues. All necessary decisions for the defense have been made."
Russia's plans to capture the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut remain unchanged and new assault forces are being sent to its outskirts, Ukrainian deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar said on Monday.
She made the remarks in a statement posted to the Telegram messaging app.