Ukraine reports battlefield gains after 'tough' week

(Patria) - Ukraine reported its troops recaptured more territory along the eastern and southern fronts in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as a "tough" week for Kyiv's counteroffensive against Russian forces, Reuters reported.

Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar also highlighted increased fighting around the devastated eastern city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces captured in May after 10 months of fighting.
"Last week was tough on the front line. But we are advancing," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

"We are moving forward, step by step! I thank everyone who defends Ukraine, everyone who is leading this war to Ukraine's victory!" he added.

In a first report for Telegram, Maliar said the Ukrainian army had captured 37.4 square kilometres of territory in heavy fighting last week. She said Russian forces were attacking near Lyman, in the northern Donetsk region, and near Avdiivka and Marinka. In a later report, she said fighting near Bakhmut had intensified and that "the fight is on to seize the initiative. Today the enemy tried to advance in this sector. And our forces achieved some success," she wrote.

"The situation is changing rapidly and control over positions can be lost and regained twice in a day," she said.

Russian forces, she said, were setting up three defensive lines on certain fronts. Ukrainian forces advanced near villages south of Bakhmut, while fighting continued in the north, with the city experiencing heavy exchanges of fire.

General Oleksander Syrskyi, in charge of Ukraine's ground forces, reported troop advances on the outskirts of Bakhmut and the "effective destruction of Russians".
In the south, Ukraine recaptured 28.4 square kilometres of territory, bringing the total area of recaptured territory along that front to 158.4 square kilometres.