Ukraine drives back Russian forces around Bakhmut in its first significant gains in months

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that his military needed more time before launching a counteroffensive, despite claiming to have struck back in the key eastern battle.

Ukraine has driven Russia's military back from some positions around Bakhmut, according to commanders on both sides, in a small but potentially significant counterattack after months on the back foot in a brutal battle that has become the focal point of the Kremlin's war.

Ukraine's military said Wednesday it had routed a Russian infantry unit and forced it to retreat from crucial ground around the eastern city. The claims were supported by the furious account of the mercenary chief whose fighters have led Russia's push for a symbolic victory there, and who has blamed Moscow's defense chiefs for the setbacks.

Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin said the Russian army's losses — which he claimed had left the flanks of his fighters leading the central assault on the city exposed — pointed to the beginnings of a broader Ukrainian counteroffensive.