Ukrainian troops are advancing in two directions in the city of Bakhmut in the east of the country, but the situation in the center of the city is more complicated, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on Saturday, Reuters reports.

“Our troops are gradually advancing in two directions in the suburbs of Bakhmut… however, the situation in the city itself is more complicated,” Malyar wrote in Telegram. “Thanks to the competent planning of the command and the courage of our fighters, the enemy does not manage to take the city under their control,” she added, according to News.ro.

Both Ukrainian and Russian officials said Ukrainian forces launched an offensive on and around Bakhmut after resisting a months-long offensive by forces loyal to Moscow that left much of the city in ruins.

“The defense in the direction of Bakhmut continues. Our troops are advancing on some areas of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and people,” Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, wrote in Telegram, Ukrinform reports, citing Agerpres.

On Friday, Russia admitted that its forces had retreated north of Bakhmut before an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

As the Institute for the Study of War (IWV) reported on Friday, the Ukrainian armed forces counterattacked the territory northwest of Bakhmut, located in the area between Bohdanivka and Bergivka.

According to the British military, Russian troops retreated in disarray from positions south of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, while Ukrainian forces advanced at least one kilometer.