Kyiv: Ukraine said Monday its forces had recaptured small clutches of land from Russian forces in the south and east of the country, where Kyiv’s troops have focused a months-long counter-offensive.
Kyiv launched its bid to wrest back territory controlled by Moscow in June, after stockpiling Western-supplied weapons and recruiting assault battalions.
Its efforts have focused on the war-battered town of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region as well as several points along the frontline in the south, towards Crimea.
‘Two square kilometres (.77 square miles) were liberated in the Bakhmut sector. Defence forces in the south liberated 5.2 square kilometres of territory,’ Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar told state media.
Ukraine’s progress against deeply entrenched Russian positions has been limited, spurring debate among Kyiv’s Western allies over its military strategy.
Russian forces meanwhile have pursued their aerial bombardment campaign targeting Ukraine’s southern regions and maritime export hubs in particular.
Ukraine said on Monday its air defence systems had downed a swarm of attack drones and nearly 20 cruise missiles in Russia’s latest aerial barrage overnight.
“A total of 24 strike UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were recorded around the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.
Eighteen attack drones were shot down by air defence units,” the air force said on social media.
It added that its forces had shot down all 17 cruise missiles fired by Russian forces overnight.
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