Hanna Malyar provided the figures in her regular operational update on Monday morning, Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported.
Malyar said on the Telegram social messaging app that Ukrainian troops were advancing "in the Bakhmut direction," in the eastern Donetsk region, while Russian forces were attacking "in the Lyman, Avdiivka and Maryinka directions" in the province.
“Heavy fighting is going on there now,” she added, according to the Reuters news agency.
Malyar also said that Ukraine had liberated nine square kilometres of land over the last week on the eastern front “as a result of improving the operational position and aligning the front line.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine has also regained 28.4 km of territory in the south over the past week, bringing the total area of reclaimed land on that front to 158.4 km, Malyar said, as reported by The Guardian.
Ukraine repels Russian drone attack: officials
Ukraine has destroyed 13 Iran-made Shahed-136/131 unmanned aerial vehicles fired by Russia overnight against southern, eastern and central Ukraine, authorities have said.
The drone strike was carried out in the early hours of Monday, Ukraine’s state news agency Ukrinform reported.
Ukraine’s Air Force said on the Telegram social messaging app: “At night on July 3, 2023, the Russian occupation forces carried out another attack with Iranian Shahed-136/131 attack drones from the southeast. Overall, 17 Shaheds were launched.”
In response, air defences went into action in the southern, eastern and central regions of Ukraine, Ukrinform reported.
In the resulting air battle, Ukraine’s air force, air defence and other forces took down 13 Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs, while the rest did not reach their targets, according to officials.
According to preliminary reports, there were no casualties, Ukrinform reported.
Russia continues to pound Ukraine’s border region of Sumy
Russia also continued to shell Ukraine’s northeastern border region of Sumy, attacking eight communities in the course of Sunday, The Kyiv Independent website reported.
Russia fired more than 110 rounds from artillery, mortars and other types of weapons against the Bilopillia, Khotin, Krasnopillia, Yunakivka, Hlukhiv, Shalyhyne, Putyvl, and Myropillia communities, according to regional officials.
During the attack, Russia targeted Krasnopillia with artillery and mortar fire, damaging two private residences, while Bilopillia, which is often the main target of Russian strikes, was hit with explosives, The Kyiv Independent reported.
Meanwhile, a mortar strike destroyed one private residence and damaged another in the Putyvl community, officials said.
There were no casualties following Sunday’s shelling, according to regional authorities.
Ukraine’s Sumy province on the Russian border has been on the receiving end of daily Russian shelling and attacks from across the frontier ever since parts of the region were liberated from Moscow’s forces in April last year, The Kyiv Independent reported.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Monday is day 495 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Ukrinform, Reuters, The Guardian, Kyiv Independent
