KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s top military command said on Monday its forces were fighting fierce battles in hot spots on the front lines, while the Defense Ministry said several villages had been liberated from Russian occupation in the first stage of a counter-offensive.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said about 25 battles took place over the past day near the eastern town of Bakhmut, and to the south near Avdiivka and Marinka, all in the Donetsk region, but also near Belohorivka in the Luhansk region.
On Monday, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar posted a photo showing soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag in what she said was the village of Storozhev in Donetsk, and thanked the 35th separate brigade of marines for liberating it.
Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the report and it was not immediately clear when the village was recaptured.
On Sunday, Ukraine said its forces had made progress in three villages in Donetsk: Blahodatny, Neskoshin and Makarivka. Storozheve is located between Blahodatne and Neskuchne.
There was no immediate comment from Russian officials.
Some prominent Russian military bloggers have indicated that while Ukrainian forces captured Blahodatny and Neskochny, fighting for Makarivka was going on.
[1/4] Ukrainian soldiers place a Ukrainian flag on a building, during an operation claiming to liberate the first village amidst a counterattack, in a place referred to as Blahodatny, Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this screenshot taken from a video post posted on June 11. , 2023. 68 separate …
Both sides said their forces had inflicted heavy losses in personnel and equipment on the enemy over the past week, as the Ukrainian counter-offensive began to take shape.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Ukraine had failed to breach Russian defences, while his Defense Ministry said it had destroyed several Leopard battle tanks and other equipment that Ukraine received from the West.
While it has remained largely silent over the past week about its counter-offensive, the Ukrainian military has reported daily successes on the battlefield.
“Over the past week, in the Bakhmut direction, the Russian invaders have suffered great losses,” the General Staff said on Monday.
The governor of Ukraine’s Donetsk region said a civilian was killed and two wounded by Russian fire in the Avdiivka region on Sunday.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that Kiev wants to discuss the details of the “aircraft alliance” with its allies at the next meeting of Ukraine’s defense contact group on June 15 in Brussels.
Zelensky has long called for Ukraine to provide it with US F-16 fighter jets, and to train Ukrainian pilots.
“At this point, we are talking about training our pilots… and our technicians and engineers,” Reznikov was quoted by the Ukrainian Military Information Center as saying.
Additional reporting by Pavel Politiuk in Kiev, Anna Proshnica in Gdańsk and Lydia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Robert Purcell and Simon Cameron Moore
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