Progress has been slower than widely expected, but Ukraine has
said it is trying to minimize casualties as its forces face
fortified Russian defensive lines strewn with landmines.
Andriy Kovaliov, spokesperson for the Armed forces General
Staff, said Ukrainian troops had moved forward in the direction
of the southeastern village of Staromayorske, near settlements
recaptured by Ukraine last month in the Donetsk region.
The Ukrainian troops were reinforcing the positions they had
taken, and Russian forces were mounting strong resistance, he
said.
In the east, he said, Ukrainian troops had driven Russian units
from positions near the village of Andriivka southwest of the
largely destroyed city of Bakhmut which Russian forces captured
in May.
Ukrainian forces were also conducting offensive operations north
and south of Bakhmut, he said.
Aided by weapons supplied by Western allies, Kyiv has retaken
more than 192 sq km (74.13 sq miles) of land in the south and 35
sq km in the east since launching its counteroffensive, a senior
defence official said on Monday.
Russia still holds vast swathes of territory 17 months after its
full-scale invasion, and has not acknowledged that Ukraine has
made gains in the counteroffensive. Its reports of the fighting
paint a different picture to Kyiv's, and it has been carrying
out air strikes across Ukraine.
Reuters could not verify the battlefield developments.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Kyiv newsroom, Editing by
Timothy Heritage)
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