"If
we talk about the entire frontline, both east and south, we have
seized the strategic initiative and are advancing in all
directions," Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar told Ukrainian
television.
Reuters was unable to verify the situation on the battlefield.
Russia, which began its full-scale invasion in February 2022,
has not acknowledged the Ukrainian gains and has said Ukraine's
military are suffering heavy casualties.
Maliar said Ukrainian troops were moving "confidently" on the
flanks around the devastated eastern city of Bakhmut, which is
held by Russian forces, and the main fighting was going on
around the city.
In the south, Kyiv's forces were moving with mixed success and
mainly levelling the frontline, she said.
"In the south, we are moving with varying success, sometimes
there are days when it is more than a kilometre, sometimes less
than a kilometre, sometimes up to 2 kilometres," she said.
She noted that the effectiveness of the counteroffensive should
be evaluated by "a lot of different military tasks" and not just
by advances and the liberation of settlements.
"Therefore, all these tasks are being carried out and only the
military can assess this correctly and accurately, and according
to their assessment, everything is going according to plan," she
said.
President Voldoymyr Zelenskiy has described the counteroffensive
as proceeding more slowly than desired, but that Kyiv would not
be pressured into speeding it up.
Ukrainian officials have also said the "main event" of the
counteroffensive has yet to start, and that Ukraine has not yet
sent its main troop reserves into combat.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Kyiv newsroom, Editing by
Timothy Heritage)
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