According to Kiev’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s long-awaited counter-offensive is gaining momentum. She said Monday that Ukraine had recaptured eight villages in the past two weeks.
A Russian-installed official first acknowledged that Ukrainian troops were advancing in the southern Zaporizhia region and confirmed that the town of Piatykhatky had been recaptured by Ukrainian forces despite heavy fire from Russian troops.
“The enemy’s ‘wave-like’ offensives showed results despite huge casualties,” Vladimir Rogov, a Russian official stationed in Zaporizhia, told Telegram on Sunday.
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A Ukrainian soldier amid artillery shells in Zaporizhia, Ukraine, on March 25, 2023. (Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Ukraine claims it has captured another village as the much-anticipated counter-offensive is underway
But according to Maliar, not only had Ukrainian forces retaken the settlement, but in the past two weeks they had pushed nearly 4.5 miles into Russian lines and “liberated” an area the size of almost 44 square miles.
Another seven towns were also recaptured by Ukrainian forces, including two in the Zaporizhia region and four towns to the east just across the border in the Donetsk region.
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The successful southward push by Ukrainian forces is significant as it indicates that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is targeting an important triangular area in the Zaporizhia region.
The vital triangular region in Zaporizhia consists of the cities of Tokmak, Melitopol and Vasilyevka. (Graphic provided by the Institute for the Study of War)
The region is defined by transport routes between the cities of Melitopol, Tokmak and Vasilyevka – which is just 10 miles south of the recaptured settlement of Piatykhatky.
According to Western defense analysts, capturing this area will not only be crucial to Ukraine’s ability to drive Russian troops out of western areas like Kherson, but will also allow Ukrainian troops to advance south toward the Sea of Azov and the to advance Crimea.
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President Zelenskyy confirms that the counteroffensive against Russia has begun
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Sunday that despite progress, the Zaporizhia region – which he dubbed the Tavria sector – remained “the toughest” front in the war.
An infographic about Bakhmut, a strategic transport hub in the Donetsk region that has been at the center of fierce fighting for months. (Yasin Demirci/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
On Monday, Maliar also looked east, where Ukraine has seen some of the most brutal fighting in the last six months, and said it remains “complicated”.
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“The Russians stationed their troops there and conducted an active offensive on the Lyman and Kupiansk fronts and tried to seize the initiative,” she said, referring to East Donetsk and East Kharkiv, respectively. “They also frequently launch attacks. Intense fighting ensues.”
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Ukrainian soldiers of the 60th Territorial Defense Battalion fire their S60 anti-aircraft gun from the back of a truck at Russian positions outside Bakhmut on June 19, 2023. (Wojciech Grzedzinski/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“Our troops act boldly in the conditions of the prevailing Russian forces and means and do not let them advance,” she added.
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Russia’s Defense Ministry also claimed Monday it thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to retake the village of Novodonetske in western Donetsk, near the Kharkiv border, although Fox News Digital has not been able to independently verify those claims.