A Ukrainian deputy minister said forces had retaken Piatykhatky, a settlement on a heavily fortified part of the front line near the most direct route to the country's Azov Sea coast.
Ukrainian officials played down a report that Kyiv is amending plans following the unauthorized release of classified U.S. documents.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Poland would help form a coalition of Western powers to supply warplanes to Kyiv, as his fighters continued to defend Bakhmut.
Bakhmut and surrounding towns in the eastern industrial region of Donetsk have been the focal point of assault for much of the 13-month-long invasion by Russia.
Ukrainian farmers, who began planting spring crops last week, earn less than before as buyers factor in the war's higher costs and risks, giving them little incentive to maximize output.
NATO alliance officials this week discussed the need for more military hardware for Kyiv, and Britain and Poland agreed that support should be stepped up.
Leader says Russia is in a hurry to achieve as much as it can before Ukraine and its allies can gather strength.
Following a surprise visit to Washington in December, the trip was the Ukrainian leader's second-known time out of his country since the war began.
In a rare disclosure, Russia's defense ministry said 63 soldiers had died on New Year's Eve in the fiery blast that destroyed a temporary barracks in a former vocational college in Makiivka.
Ukrainian forces shot down 45 Iranian-made Sahed drones fired by Russia on the first night of the year, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday evening.
