Ukraine’s advance around Bakhmut presents Russia with difficult decisions about its resources.

Ukraine’s army says it is making progress despite stiff resistance from Russian soldiers in northern and southern Bakhmut, putting more pressure on Moscow’s troops to devote resources to the battle as they brace for a wider Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Once a city of 80,000 and known for its sparkling wine and salt mines, Bakhmut has been the site of some of the deadliest urban battles in a generation. After nearly a year of fighting, Russian troops have taken control of about 90 percent of the devastated city. But after months on the defensive, Ukraine last week launched a series of coordinated counter-attacks and within days recaptured territory around the city that it took Russian forces months to take.

In the past 48 hours, Ukraine was able to build on last week’s gains and advance about two kilometers in some directions, Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for Ukrainian forces fighting in the east, said on national television Monday night.

Without going into further detail, he said the forward push had been slower on some fronts, with battles being fought over areas the size of three football fields. Colonel Cherevaty also said Russian forces counterattacked in some areas. Although his claims could not be independently verified, Russian military bloggers have also noticed Ukrainian gains around Bakhmut over the past week.

The gains are still small geographically — a few dozen square miles at most — but they represent a shift in momentum that Ukrainian commanders say they hope to build upon as they launch their long-awaited counter-offensive elsewhere along the 600-mile frontline.

They also present Russia with a tough decision about the cost it is willing to pay to continue fighting for the devastated city, potentially drawing resources from other areas that could soon be attacked.

The looming Ukrainian counter-offensive is not a one-time event, according to Ukrainian commanders and military analysts. President Volodymyr Zelensky warned last week that it could be delayed without more weapons from allies, but it was not clear whether that was deception, and Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian positions deeper behind enemy lines in recent weeks.

Despite an influx of Western weapons to aid in the counter-offensive, Ukrainian commanders do not expect the battle ahead to be easy. Andriy Biletsky, the commander of Ukraine’s 3rd assault brigade, which last week made the first breakthrough of Russian lines around Bakhmut, said in an interview over the weekend that Russian “tank units are being raised, new units are being raised”. As he spoke, the sound of nearby fighting echoed in the distance.

The fighting for Bakhmut is fluid, but the bloggers from the Ukrainian army and the Russian army provide a picture of where the fiercest battles are taking place.

In the south, Ukrainian soldiers and commanders have reported an advance through a forest area south of the village of Ivanivske as they make their way to Klishchiivka, a small village claimed by Wagner forces in late January. The village is considered strategically important because it sits on high ground immediately east of roads to Bakhmut that can serve as supply routes.

In the north, both sides reported fighting around the highlands surrounding the Berkhovskoye reservoir. Russia’s defense ministry said over the weekend that its troops were regrouping around the reservoir to “strengthen the defense line”.

Russian military blogger Gray Zone, who has ties to Wagner, reported on Friday that newly acquired Ukrainian positions give them “an advantageous tactical position, enabling them to conduct reconnaissance and use any type of weapon effectively” on Russian forces in the valley below and in the city itself.

But as Russian forces have lost ground around the city, Ukrainian officials say the attack on Ukrainian fighters in the city has only intensified.

“The enemy is mainly trying to conquer the city itself and is making desperate efforts to do so,” Colonel Cherevaty said.

Natalya Novosolova And Anastasia Kuznitsova contributed research.