By Olena Harmash
KYIV (Reuters) – The Ukrainian military has retaken over 12 square km (4.6 square miles) of territory in southern Ukraine in the past week in their counteroffensive against Russian forces, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on Monday.
Maliar said the advances brought the territory recaptured since the counteroffensive began in early June to more than 192 square km in the southern sector.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday the counteroffensive had failed, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said these were still the “early days” of the Ukrainian counterattack.
In a video message distributed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, Maliar said Ukrainian forces were continuing to advance in several areas towards the southern city of Melitopol and the city of Berdiansk which is on the Azov Sea.
In the east, she said, the main focus of fighting was around the small city of Bakhmut captured by Russian forces in May after months of fierce combat. Kyiv’s forces continued to advance on Bakhmut’s southern flanks but to the north Russian forces were “clinging to every centimetre and meter,” she said.
Maliar said that Ukrainian forces had retaken about 4 square km in this direction over the past week and the main battles were around the villages of Klishchiivka, Andriivka and Kurdyumivka southwest of Bakhmut.
The Ukrainian military said in its daily update there had been 35 combat clashes in the eastern direction over the past 24 hours.
Russia, which sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, still holds swathes of territory in southern and eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said last week that Ukraine’s military faced “extremely complex minefields, anti-tank barriers, and a system of fire destruction” but continued to advance.
Russia reported a drone strike on Moscow on Monday in which it said two buildings were struck but did not suffer major damage, and Ukrainian officials said Russia launched the latest in a series of attacks on the southern port of Odesa.
Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield developments. Russia has not confirmed that Ukraine has made territorial gains, and said last week that its forces had advanced in the northeast.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
