Ukraine's military said on Saturday that its forces had made advances near Bakhmut, one of the focal points of fighting on the eastern front, and in an area further south.
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, writing on Telegram, said an offensive was launched near a group of villages ringing Bakhmut -- the town taken by Russia's Wagner mercenary forces last month after months of fighting.
"In all these areas, we have made advances," Maliar wrote.
Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, commander of the Tavria, or southern, front, said Ukrainian forces had liberated an area near Krasnohorivka, west of the Russian-held regional center of Donetsk.
He said the area had been under Russian control since separatist forces backed by Moscow took control of it in 2014.