Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine
Ukrainian soldiers of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade fire a grenade launcher at the front line near the town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, on June 17, 2023,.
Ukraine has liberated eight settlements in southern Ukraine over the past two weeks as its counteroffensive continues, the country's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Monday.
Maliar noted on Telegram that Ukrainian troops "were both on the offensive and on the defensive" last week.
"In the east, the enemy made a lot of efforts to stop the advance of our troops in the direction of Bakhmut. Transferred additional units there and increased the number of shelling," she said, saying that while the overall intensity of fighting in this direction decreased, 41 clashes took place. Ukrainian troops "advanced deep into the enemy in several areas," she said.
"Over the past week in the east, the enemy has fired more than 5,800 rounds and used 277,022 rounds of ammunition," she added.
In southern Ukraine, meanwhile, there was an offensive in several directions in the past week, she said.
"Units of missile troops and artillery of the Defence Forces of the Tavria direction performed 10,125 fire missions during the week," she said, with eight "settlements liberated by units of the "Tavria" OSUV [Tavria operational-strategic group]: Novodarivka, Levadne, Storozheve, Makarivka, Blagodatne, Lobkovo, Neskuchne, Pyatikhatky" the latter being the latest village to have been purportedly recaptured.
In general, the units in the Tavria direction (in southern Ukraine) advanced to the depth of the enemy up to 7 km (4.3 miles), she said, with the liberated area in the south amounting to 113 square km.
"Over the past week, the enemy suffered significant losses. In particular, last week the losses of the enemy in all directions amounted to more than 4,600 killed and wounded, in addition, our defenders captured more than 80 fighters of the aggressor," Maliar said. CNBC was unable to immediately verify the information in the post.
— Holly Ellyatt
Source: CNBC
