The Ukrainian military says there has been heavy fighting across several areas of the eastern frontlines, as well as renewed Russian shelling in the south of the country.
Unofficial social media accounts on both sides of the conflict have confirmed bitter fighting around the eastern city of Bakhmut, as Russian forces step up efforts to encircle and capture the city.
The Ukrainian General Staff said that over the past 24 hours, more than 30 settlements in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk regions came under fire. It also listed several districts and villages around Bakhmut as coming under attack.
Verified social media videos and unofficial military accounts indicate that Russian forces, which include the Wagner private military company, have made modest gains on the outskirts of Bakhmut amid intense street fighting.
The Wagner group, on its official Telegram account, claimed that its forces were "advancing through Bakhmut." They appear to be in control of villages immediately to the north of the city.
A soldier with the 46th Ukrainian Air Assault Brigade posted on an unofficial Telegram account that for "several days we watched the 'orcs' [Russians] storming Krasna Hora head-on and wondered why they were doing it – it was a waste of time and effort."
Krasna Hora is just north of Bakhmut, and close to one road that enters the city from the west.
The soldier, who has spoken several times with CNN, said the Russians then began to bypass Krasna Hora and the neighboring settlement of Paraskoviivka.
"This is where it became very uncomfortable," he wrote. "Now there is a threat of semi-encirclement of the town from the north."
He added that the Russians had reached another road that links Bakhmut and Konstantynivka — a town under Ukrainian control located a few miles to the west.
"They were pushed back, and now the fighting is for the highway itself," he said. "It is about 500 meters away. It is no longer suitable for supplying the city."
"Everything is decided by the battles to the north of the city and to the southwest on the Bakhmut-Konstantynivka highway. If the orcs fulfill this, then the garrison will be cut off. But so far, they have only been able to fulfill their plan by half," the soldier said on Telegram.