Operations to defend the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut will go on, and are backed by senior generals, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Western analysts suggested at the weekend that Ukraine was probably withdrawing some of its troops, as Russian forces close in on the city.
Moscow has been trying to take Bakhmut for months, as both sides suffer heavy losses in a grinding war of attrition.
A local official says there has been street fighting in recent days.
But Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Marchenko said at the weekend that Russia had not yet gained control of the city.
Meanwhile Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner private army involved in the Russian campaign, has complained of a lack of ammunition amid apparent friction between his fighters and regular Russian forces.
<<BBC>>