Zelenskiy: Ukrainian troops advancing in Zaporizhzhia region

(Patria) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Ukraine's counteroffensive had made progress in both the southern Zaporizhzhia region and the Donetsk region, Reuters reported.

Kyiv has claimed for weeks that its forces have advanced around the town of Dobropillya - near the logistics hub of Pokrovsk, one of the key targets of Russian troops slowly advancing west through the Donetsk region.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces had advanced more than three kilometers south in the Zaporizhzhia region.

"At the moment, Ukrainian units are continuing our counteroffensive actions near Dobropillya, but also in other sectors - especially in the Zaporizhzhia region near Orikhiv," he said.

"There, our forces have advanced - more than three kilometers today."

The 24th Separate Assault Battalion of the Ukrainian army announced on Telegram that it, along with another unit, had taken control of Mali Shcherbaky, a village between Orikhiv and the Dnieper River.

The Russian Ministry of Defense's report did not mention Ukraine's progress or whether Mali Shcherbaky had changed hands. But it stated that Russian troops attacked Ukrainian troops and equipment in the Zaporizhzhia region, including the village of Novoandriivka, near Mali Shcherbaky and Orikhiv.

Ukraine and Russia have issued conflicting reports in the past week about the situation along the front line in the war that has been ongoing for more than three and a half years, which Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief estimated to extend for 1,250 km.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week to senior officers that Russian forces had captured 5,000 square kilometers of territory this year and maintained a strategic advantage in all sectors of the front line.

Zelenskiy, a day later, said that Ukrainian forces were inflicting heavy losses on Russian troops near Dobropillya and that "we are defending in all other directions".