There is a growing view that Russian troops are losing momentum in their attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

In a social media post, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said he talked over the telephone with Britain's Chief of Defence Staff Tony Radakin on Friday.

Zaluzhnyi acknowledged during the talks that the situation is the "toughest in the Bakhmut direction" but said Ukraine is managing to stabilize the situation due to the efforts of its defense forces.

Britain's defense ministry said on Saturday that Russia's assault on Bakhmut has "largely stalled," citing "extreme attrition" of the Russian forces as a cause.

The ministry added that the Russian situation in Bakhmut was likely worsened by tensions between the paramilitary Wagner group and the Russian defense ministry.

It pointed to the possibility that Moscow is shifting its operational focus to Avdiivka, to the south of Bakhmut, and Kreminna to its north. It suggested Russia may have begun pivoting from massive offensives to defensive operations since January as a result of failing to clinch decisive results.

The Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, stated on Friday that "the Russian information space appears to be responding to the slow-down of Russian operations and potential for Ukraine to regain the initiative with substantial anxiety."

The institute said Russia's military command will need to commit a significant number of forces to the frontline to reverse the situation, but that it is unlikely that such forces exist at sufficient scale.