Russian forces preparing for Ukrainian counteroffensive, says Medvedev

He claimed Ukraine had concentrated more than 80,000 soldiers around the eastern Ukrainian-held city.

The Russian army, aided by the Wagner, has been throwing thousands of soldiers into battle for more than two months in its attempt to take Bakhmut and the surrounding area.

Western officials have for a long time warned that Bakhmut was on the brink of falling to Russia. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, however, said his troops would continue defending Bakhmut, which has emerged as a potent symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

Boosted by the influx of modern western weapons, Ukrainian commanders have started to raise the prospect of an unlikely turnaround in the largely ravaged city.

Russia has lost up to 30,000 soldiers in Bakhmut, including many former convicts recruited from prisons by Wagner, according to western officials.

He has largely refrained from commenting on military developments on the ground.

But inside Russia, some loud pro-war commentators have renewed their attacks on the military leadership over its inability to achieve tangible military successes as the war enters its 14th month.