Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Saturday that the situation on the front line in the east of the country is becoming more and more difficult, and Russia is throwing more and more troops into the battle, Reuters reports.

Russian troops are slowly gaining ground in Donbas, encircling the town of Bakhmut north of Donetsk and fighting for control of a nearby road that is a key supply route for Ukrainian forces. The Russians are also trying to capture Vugledar, southwest of Donetsk.

• “I have often had to say that the situation at the front is difficult and is becoming more and more difficult, and here is that time again… The occupier is sending more and more forces to destroy our defenses,” Zelenskyy said in a video message.

• “Now it is very difficult in Bakhmut, Vugledar, Liman and other areas,” he continued.

Earlier that day, Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Malyar wrote in Telegram that Russia’s attempts to break through the defenses of Bakhmut and Liman had failed.

• “This week, the Russian occupying forces directed all their forces to break through the line of our defense and surround Bakhmut; and launched an offensive on the Limansky front. But thanks to the resistance of our military, the Russians did not succeed,” she said, Ukrainian Pravda reports.

Liman, which is located north of Bakhmut, was liberated by Ukrainian forces last October.