Ukraine claims significant gains around Bakhmut

Ukraine said Friday that its forces had recaptured chunks of territory around the embattled city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, which has been the epicentre of fighting with Russia for months.

"The enemy has suffered great losses of manpower. Our defence forces advanced two kilometres (around one mile) near Bakhmut. We did not lose a single position in Bakhmut this week," Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said in a statement on social media.

The comments came after another senior Ukrainian military official said this week that Russian forces had dropped back from some areas near Bakhmut after counter attacks by Kyiv's forces.

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But Russia late on Thursday denied Ukraine had made any breakthroughs in the flashpoint city, saying that reports of territorial losses around the city did "not correspond to reality".

Russian paramilitary group Wagner, which is leading Moscow's ground assault for Bakhmut has complained recently of ammunition shortages and threatened to withdraw unless it received more support from Moscow.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War said in an analytical note Friday that Kyiv had "likely broke through some Russian lines in localised counterattacks near Bakhmut".

Bakhmut, which had a pre-war population of around 70,000 people, has been destroyed as Russian forces have posted incremental gains over recent months, amounting to some 80 percent of the city itself.