The Ukrainian Defense Forces have been conducting offensive operations in the Bakhmut direction for the fourth day, Ukrainian units have not entered the town – the advance is going along the flanks, Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maliar has said.

"Currently, offensive operations in the Bakhmut direction have been going on for the fourth day already. Our defenders are advancing along the flanks every day. Gradually, but surely. As of today, they have not entered the town of Bakhmut," she said on the Telegram channel on Tuesday.

The deputy defense minister said that "when planning offensive operations in the east, our military took into account the fact of contradictions between Wagner and the incumbent Russian authorities."

The liberation of the Bakhmut direction "has its own peculiarity that complicates the process. The area of Bakhmut and the suburbs has a developed system of engineering fortifications and an extensive network of strongholds. All this was once prepared by our military and local authorities for defense, in fact, which helped so much keep it for a long time," Maliar said.

"But now these fortifications and strongholds have been occupied by the enemy, so a little more effort and patience is needed to liberate these lands," she said.