The latest update was provided by Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar on Monday, the Reuters news agency reported.
Malyar said on the Telegram social messaging app that Ukraine’s troops had liberated some three square kilometres of land over the past week around the eastern city of Bakhmut.
Bakhmut was captured by Russian forces in May, following a heavy months-long battle, Reuters noted.
The Ukrainian deputy defence minister stated that Kyiv’s troops had now retaken around 47 square kilometres of territory around the eastern city since launching their counteroffensive in early June.
Malyar added that Ukraine had also achieved “success” in the direction of Novodanylivka and Novoprokopivka, two villages in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, without providing further details.
Ukrainian troops are seeking to push southwards through Zaporizhzhia to the Sea of Azov, to split Russian forces, according to officials.
Zelensky visits Ukrainian troops on eastern, southern fronts
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday said he had visited combat brigades in the eastern Donetsk province, where Bakhmut is located, and in Zaporizhzhia, The Kyiv Independent website reported.
The Ukrainian leader later wrote on Telegram: "It is very, very useful to hear from those who are going into battle directly what exactly is lacking, what exactly is enough, and what exactly needs to be changed."
Zelensky visited eight brigades in Donetsk, three brigades in Zaporizhzhia, as well as military doctors and medical staff at so-called “stabilisation points” near the frontline, according to The Kyiv Independent.
He presented medals to soldiers and thanked the medics for saving lives, according to news outlets.
In his nightly address to the nation, delivered from a train, Ukraine’s president said the soldiers’ feedback on the course of the war would be taken seriously, Reuters reported.
Zelensky said: "Everything that our fighters talked about will be put to participants in meetings of the command, especially regarding electronic warfare. Guys, we heard you clearly."
Russia says it downed 3 drones targeting Moscow
Russia said it had brought down three Ukraine-launched drones targeting Moscow early on Tuesday, Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported.
Russian air defences destroyed two unmanned aerial vehicles over the Kaluga and Tver regions, which border the Moscow region, and one over the Istra district of the Moscow region, the Russian defence ministry said.
According to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, the drones “were trying to carry out an attack on Moscow” and a consumer services facility was damaged in the Istra district, some 65 km northwest of the Kremlin, The Guardian reported.
Almost 50 flights were cancelled or postponed early on Tuesday from the four major airports around the capital, Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky, according to Russian news agencies.
Drone attacks on Russian targets, especially in Crimea--which Moscow annexed in 2014--and in regions bordering Ukraine, have become almost a daily occurrence since two drones were destroyed over the Kremlin in early May, The Guardian noted.
Ukraine rarely takes direct responsibility for such drone strikes but says destroying Russian military infrastructure helps a counteroffensive Kyiv began in June, the UK newspaper added.
Tuesday is day 559 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters, The Kyiv Independent, The Guardian, president.gov.ua