The latest report on the counterattack, in addition to a report of “miserable resistance” from Russian forces in the east, came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cited the importance of the counterattack.
“Every soldier. Every new step we take. Every inch liberated from Ukrainian territory is of paramount importance,” Zelensky said in his videotaped evening address.
Russia did not officially acknowledge the progress of the Ukrainian forces in the early stages of its counterattack, and said that it had inflicted heavy losses on Kiev in the past 24 hours.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hana Malyar said on the Telegram application that the forces “are engaged in active movements to advance in several directions simultaneously.”
She added, “In practice, our units have achieved tactical successes in all sectors in which they attack.”
“They are advancing gradually. At the moment they have advanced up to two kilometers in each direction,” she added.
In eastern Ukraine, Malyar said, Russian forces are trying to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fixed positions.
Ukrainian forces are trying to push Russian forces out of the ruined outskirts of Bakhmut, which Russia captured last month.
General Oleksandr Sersky, commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, had said earlier that the situation was inflamed in the east, and that Russia was sending its best forces to the Bakhmut sector, backed by artillery and aircraft.
“We continue offensive actions in various directions, occupying prominent heights and sections of forest, with the aim of gradually forcing the enemy out of the outskirts of Bakhmut. Realizing this, enemy units are putting up miserable resistance,” Sersky wrote on Telegram.
Bakhmut is witnessing some of the fiercest battles since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
Last week, the Ukrainian military said it had begun pressuring Russian forces to withdraw around Bakhmut.
Sersky also made it clear that Ukrainian forces were advancing in the south.
On Thursday, Kiev said it had regained control of about 100 square kilometers of its territory in just about a week of starting its counter-offensive against Russian forces.
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