A Ukrainian military spokesperson, Serhiy Cherevaty, revealed this in a battle which Russians launched 16 attacks as there were 23 clashes that took place, Reuters said.

Russian forces have been mounting attacks for months to take Bakhmut, in the eastern Donbas region.

However, both sides admitted to huge casualties and the exact numbers were difficult to verify.

“Over the course of the fighting, 221 enemies were killed and 314 sustained injuries of various degrees,” he told the national parliament’s television channel.

It was not clear from Cherevaty’s comments whether he was referring to losses sustained on Friday or over the most recent 24 hours period.

An aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Kyiv had decided to fight on in Bakhmut because the battle was grinding down Russia’s best units.

Moscow said capturing Bakhmut would deal a great blow in Ukrainian defenses and be a step towards seizing all of the Donbas industrial region, a major target.

Since Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine began in February last year, tens of thousands have been killed, millions displaced and many Ukrainian cities and towns pulverised.