Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the liberation of Staromaiorske in a social media post on Thursday night, the Ukrainska Pravda website reported.
Meanwhile, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said Ukrainian forces continued to advance south of the Russian-held city of Bakhmut, also in Donetsk province, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Overall, Ukrainian troops continued their counteroffensive against Russia on at least three sectors of the front on Thursday, and made gains in some areas, the Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, assessed.
Ukrainian forces achieved tactical victories in the Melitopol direction, in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province, the US think tank added, citing Ukrainian Director of the Department of Application Planning at the Main Command of the National Guard Mykola Urshalovych.
Moreover, geolocated footage from Wednesday suggested that Ukrainian forces had made additional advances east of Robotyne, also in the Zaporizhzhia region, as well as north of Klishchiivka near Bakhmut, the ISW reported.
On Wednesday, Ukraine launched the main thrust of the counteroffensive, attacking in Zaporizhzhia with thousands of troops and Western-provided armoured vehicles, Britain’s The Telegraph newspaper reported.
The aim is to advance south to disrupt Russia’s land bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow had annexed in 2014, The Telegraph added.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Friday is day 520 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, ISW, Ukrainska Pravda, The Telegraph