Ukraine reports “successes” on the battlefield in the south and east of the country
Ukrainian troops have achieved some new “successes” in the south and east of the country as they try to advance their counteroffensive against Russian forces, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said. Kiev’s forces have made slow advances against Russian fields and trenches blocking the advance south to the Sea of Azov and the division of Russian forces. “There have been some successes, especially in the Novodanylivka-Novoprokopivka direction,” Maliar said on the messaging app Telegram, referring to two villages in the southeast of the Zaporizhia region. Novoprokopivka is further south than the strategic settlement of Robotyne, which Ukraine said it liberated on Monday. Maliar also said Kiev’s forces were continuing offensive operations south of the devastated eastern city of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russian troops in May. Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, also reported “positive dynamics” on the Bakhmut front, but did not give any details. According to Maliar, heavy fighting continued in the villages of Klishchiivka, Kurdyumivka and Andriivka. Maliar added that “active” fighting was also underway on the Lyman Front in the east, where Russian troops had attempted to advance near the villages of Novoyehorivka and Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region.