Kiev acknowledged the difficult situation in Bakhmut, which is almost completely besieged by Russian forces, but nevertheless confirmed that the situation in the city is still under control. This coincides with the Russian bombing of the city center of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine and Moscow's threat that it will destroy a German tank factory in the country if it is established.
In response to the Russian leadership's statements that the Ukrainian forces are almost besieged inside Bakhmut, the Ukrainian Staff Command said - today, Saturday - that "the enemy does not stop trying to surround Bakhmut, but our forces have suffered heavy human losses."
Kiev also announced today that the commander of the special forces, General Viktor Khorenko, inspected units defending Bakhmut.
Meanwhile, the United Nations, through its partners who remain in the city, is working to evacuate residents in need.
Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said yesterday that thousands of residents - including hundreds of children - are trapped in Bakhmut in light of the intensification of hostilities, explaining that due to the security situation in the city, efforts to evacuate civilians are focused on the most vulnerable groups.
For its part, British Military Intelligence said today - in its daily bulletin - that the Ukrainian forces defending Bakhmut are facing increasing pressure from Russian forces, with fighting raging in and around the city in the east of the country.
The head of the Russian "paramilitary" Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, called on Ukrainian forces to withdraw from Bakhmut, saying that the city had become almost completely surrounded.
The Russian "Rebar" website, which specializes in military news, said that the Russian forces are advancing towards the south, and that intense battles are taking place near the road linking Bakhmut and Konstantinovka in the southwestern region of the city.
There are only a few thousand left in the city of Bakhmut - which had a population of about 70,000 people before the war.
Donetsk battles
On the ground, the Ukrainian General Staff Command also announced that its forces had repelled 150 Russian attacks on 5 axes in the east of the country during the past 24 hours.
And officials - in the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine - reported new Russian bombing operations on civilian infrastructure during the past 24 hours.
On the other hand, the Al-Jazeera correspondent stated that Russian bombing targeted the city center of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense stated that Russian forces tried to storm the positions of the separate presidential brigade named "Khmelnytsky" in the Avdiivka district of Donetsk province, prompting two army battalions and an artillery unit to deal with them.
The Ukrainian defense added that the affiliated forces were able to inflict heavy losses on the Russian forces, which consisted of 3 tanks and 5 troop carriers, and 6 soldiers of the attacking Russian forces were captured and their repeated attempts to advance were thwarted.
This ministry published a video showing the operation and the destruction of Russian vehicles and tanks and their remnants.
In a related development, the Ukrainian emergency services said today that the death toll from the strike - which targeted a residential building in Zaporizhia on Wednesday night - Thursday - rose to 10 dead, including a child, and that search operations are continuing among the rubble.
The authorities of this region also announced the killing of two civilians during the shelling of "Russian artillery" this morning on the town of Gulyai Poli, and the killing of two others during the shelling on the town of Chervonohrihorivka in the Dnipro region.
The death toll from the Russian bombing of a residential building in Zaporizhia has risen to 10, and a search is underway for victims (Reuters)
Rare visit
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made a rare visit to his country's forces deployed on the battle front in eastern Ukraine, and the Russian Defense Ministry stated - today - that Shoigu is inspecting military units south of Donetsk.
The ministry said in a statement that Shoigu, during a visit to the headquarters of one of the army formations, heard a report from the group commander and headquarters officers on the current situation.
The ministry did not disclose the timing or location of the visit.
German factory and Russian threat
In another context, Armin Babberger, head of the German arms company "Rheinmetall", announced that they are negotiating with Kiev regarding the establishment of a tank factory in Ukraine, explaining that the talks are promising, and it is expected that a decision will be taken in this regard within two months.
He added that the cost of establishing the factory may reach 200 million euros, noting that the factory can produce about 400 combat tanks of the new "Panther" model annually.
Dmitry Medvedev, Vice President of the Russian Security Council, commented on the plans of "Rheinmetall" by saying that Moscow is looking forward to seeing this on the ground, and vowed sarcastically that his country would revive this occasion by launching fireworks of "Caliber" missiles and others.
It is noteworthy that the "Caliber" are cruise missiles that are launched primarily from ships, and the Russian fleet in the Black Sea used them extensively in the past months to bomb Ukrainian energy facilities.
200 thousand dead
On the other hand, Christopher Cavoli, Commander-in-Chief of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Europe, said that the number of dead and wounded among the Russian forces has risen to more than 200,000 soldiers and more than 1,800 officers since the beginning of the war on Ukraine.
Cavoli said, in an interview with the German newspaper Spiegel, that the Russian army fired, on average, more than 23,000 artillery shells per day.
In parallel, the Ukrainian General Staff reported that the number of Russian forces killed in the country has reached 152,000 to date.