The most difficult situation remains in the east of Ukraine; the Russian invaders are trying to capture Bakhmut at any cost.

Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov, Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said this during a briefing.

"In general, the most difficult situation continues to remain in the eastern zone of our country, where the enemy is trying to reach the administrative border of the Donetsk region," he said.

Gromov said that since December 23, during the operation of the Defense Forces, there have been 259 combat clashes with the enemy. The aggressor carried out more than 4,000 shelling on the positions of Ukrainian troops.

"Around Bakhmut, the defenders of Ukraine daily hold back up to 20 enemy attacks, which, under cover of artillery fire, stubbornly advance on the positions of our troops," he said.

The brigadier general noted that in recent weeks, to concentrate artillery fire around Bakhmut, the enemy deliberately reduced the number of shelling of positions of Ukrainian troops in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia directions. At the same time, ammunition was delivered to the Bakhmut and Lyman directions.

"More than 40% of enemy artillery shelling along the line of contact from Kupyansk to Maryinka falls precisely in the Bakhmut direction. The enemy is trying at any cost, despite numerous losses in personnel, to capture Bakhmut," Hromov said.