Ukraine Says Recaptured 3 Square Km Around Bakhmut Last Week

Ukraine said on Monday its forces had recaptured a clutch of territory around the war-battered eastern town of Bakhmut last week, wresting back land taken by Russian forces this summer

Kyiv, Ukraine, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Aug, 2023 ):Ukraine said on Monday its forces had recaptured a clutch of territory around the war-battered eastern town of Bakhmut last week, wresting back land taken by Russian forces this summer.

Kyiv launched a highly-anticipated counter-offensive in June after building up assault battalions and stockpiling Western-donated weapons but has acknowledged slow progress.

"In the Bakhmut sector, three square kilometres (1.2 square miles) were liberated last week," Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar told state television.

"In total, 40 square kilometres have been liberated on the southern flank of the Bakhmut sector," she added.

Russian forces, spearheaded by the Wagner mercenary group, captured the town of some 70,000 in May after months of fierce fighting.

Ukrainian forces have also been pressing against deeply entrenched Russian forces in the south of the country, in two regions the Kremlin said it had annexed last year.

Malyar said Ukrainian forces had been pushing towards the captured towns of Melitopol and Berdyansk, adding that "hostilities are continuing in Urozhaine", a settlement on the southern front in the Donetsk region.

"We have certain successes there. Our forces also had certain successes on the south of Staromayorsk," the deputy defence minister said, referring to another nearby town.

Malyar also confirmed that Ukrainian troops had conducted "certain tasks" on the left bank of the Dnipro river in the Kherson region.

The river was rendered the de facto front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the region after Kyiv recaptured the territory's main city, also called Kherson, in November.

"We cannot reveal the details but we completed these tasks. In order to entrench there, it is necessary to dislodge the enemy and clear the territory," Malyar said.