Russia said on Friday its troops were advancing in every section of the Ukrainian front, despite observers seeing little movement.

The front lines have barely shifted in 2023 but fighting has remained intense. The latest major flashpoint is the nearly encircled industrial town of Avdiivka, where Ukraine said it was fending off assaults.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Friday that troops are occupying a more favorable "position and expanding their zones of control in all directions."

Shoigu also said his men were "effectively and firmly inflicting fire damage on the Ukrainian armed forces, significantly reducing their combat capabilities."

His ministry announced on Wednesday it had taken control of Khromove, a small village on the outskirts of Bakhmut in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, but other territorial gains have proved elusive.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree Friday that would boost troop numbers 15 percent.

"The increase in the full-time strength of the army is due to growing threats to our country linked with the special military operation and the continuing expansion of NATO," the army said, adding that some 170,000 soldiers would join the force as a response to the aggressive activity of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In recent days, improving weather conditions — following powerful storms across southern Ukraine and Russia earlier this week — have enabled Russia's forces to intensify their assaults and use drones again, Ukrainian officials said.

"Our defenders are steadfast holding the line in the Avdiivka sector," Ukrainian army commander Oleksandr Tarnavskyi said in his daily update.

Tarnavskyi said Ukraine's own offensive "in the Melitopol sector" in the south was continuing.

Ukraine has struggled to claw back territory from Russia this year, despite launching a counter-offensive in June after stocking up on Western weapons.

Last month Kyiv said it had pushed Russian forces back a few kilometres from the banks of Dnipro river, which if confirmed would be its first meaningful advance in more than 12 months.