Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he has visited troops near the town of Pokrovsk, where the fiercest front line battle between Russia and Ukraine is currently taking place.
Zelensky posted photos showing him meeting personnel at a command post in the Dobropillya sector, some 20km (12 miles) north of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region.
Kyiv's top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskiy, said on Monday that Ukraine was increasing pressure on the Dobropillya front to force the enemy to disperse its forces and make it impossible to concentrate their main efforts in the Pokrovsk area.
Russia has been trying to seize Pokrovsk - a strategic frontline town and logistic hub - for over a year.
Although it has taken them months to approach the town's borders, Russian soldiers have now infiltrated it, and on Friday, Zelensky said Russia had amassed 170,000 troops on its outskirts.
Both Ukraine and Russia continue to issue claims and counterclaims about the situation in and around Pokrovsk. Capturing the town could give Moscow access to the rest of Donetsk.
Gen Syrskiy acknowledged his troops were withstanding the pressure of a multi-thousand enemy grouping but denied that they were encircled.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) indicated that Russian forces were operating with increasing comfort within Pokrovsk, which has been almost entirely emptied of its civilian population and largely destroyed.
On Monday, Zelensky stated that Russia had achieved no success in Pokrovsk recently but admitted that things were not easy for Ukrainian forces as a significant fraction of clashes on the frontline occurred there. Some Ukrainian commentators have criticized the decision to continue defending Pokrovsk.
As winter approaches, bombardments continue across the country, targeting Ukrainian energy facilities and infrastructure, raising concerns of humanitarian crises amid ongoing conflicts.
