WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian forces make headway in east, south -officials

Ukrainian forces are making some headway in both the eastern and southern theatres of their four-month-old counteroffensive, military officials said on Monday.

Russian accounts of the fighting said Moscow's forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks near the devastated eastern city of Bakhmut and inflicted heavy casualties in strikes on Ukrainian positions outside the city.

Ukraine's counteroffensive aims to secure control of areas around Bakhmut in order to recapture the town, which was seized by Russian forces in May after months of heavy battles. In the south, Kyiv wants to advance to the Sea of Azov to sever a Russian land bridge linking areas it occupies in the south and east.

Ilia Yevlash, a spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern group of forces, said troops had scored a "partial success" near Andriivka, which they captured last month along with the nearby locality of Klishhiivka.

"We are repelling constant attacks near Klishchiivka and Andriivka, Yevlash told national television.

"Every day we are making headway in the Bakhmut sector. We are talking about hundreds of metres at a time that we are liberating from our enemies and strengthening our positions. It is, however, too early to talk about achieving concrete goals."

Ukrainian prosecutors in Donetsk region, the focal point of Russia's campaign in the east, said Russian forces had shelled areas east of the Russian-held town of Donetsk, killing one person. The coking town of Avdiivka, which has resisted Russian advances for months, was also shelled.

General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of forces in the south, wrote on Telegram that Kyiv's troops were continuing offensive operations in the drive southward.

"We have had partial success to the west of Verbove," he said, referring to one of a cluster of villages that Ukraine is targeting, with the larger town of Tokmak the next large target.

Ukraine's counteroffensive has made slow progress in both theatres, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other officials have denied suggestions by Western critics that Ukraine has failed to achieve its objectives and is hampered by strategic errors.

Nineteen months after Russia's invasion, its forces control about 18% of Ukrainian territory, according to Western estimates.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces eliminate 170 Ukrainian troops in Kupyansk area over past day

Russian forces eliminated roughly 170 Ukrainian troops and a self-propelled artillery gun in the Kupyansk area over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Monday.

"The enemy’s losses amounted to 170 Ukrainian personnel, four pickup trucks and an Akatsiya motorized artillery system," the ministry said in a statement.

Russian forces repel five Ukrainian army attacks in Kupyansk area over past day

Russian forces repelled five Ukrainian army attacks in the Kupyansk area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"In the Kupyansk direction, units of the western battlegroup supported by aircraft and artillery repulsed in their active operations five attacks by the enemy’s 32nd and 115th mechanized and 4th tank brigades near the settlements of Sinkovka and Orlyanskoye in the Kharkov Region and Makeyevka in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the ministry said.

Russian forces repulse two Ukrainian attacks in Krasny Liman area over past day

Russian forces repulsed two Ukrainian army attacks in the Krasny Liman area, eliminating roughly 45 enemy troops over the past day, the ministry reported.

"In the Krasny Liman direction, two attacks by assault groups of the Ukrainian army’s 63rd and 67th mechanized brigades were repulsed by well-coordinated actions of units from the battlegroup Center, army aircraft strikes and artillery fire near the settlement of Chervonaya Dibrova in the Lugansk People’s Republic. In addition, they inflicted damage on enemy manpower and equipment in areas near the settlements of Torskoye and Grigorovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Kuzmino in the Lugansk People’s Republic. The enemy’s losses amounted to 45 Ukrainian personnel, two armored combat vehicles and two motor vehicles," the ministry said.

In counter-battery fire, Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian Akatsiya motorized artillery system, a D-20 howitzer and a D-30 howitzer, it said.

Kiev loses 200 troops in south Donetsk area over past day

Russian forces repulsed a Ukrainian army attack in the south Donetsk area, killing and wounding roughly 200 enemy troops over the past day, the ministry reported.

"In the south Donetsk direction, units of the battlegroup East in interaction with army aircraft and artillery repulsed an attack by the 128th territorial defense brigade near the settlement of Priyutnoye in the Zaporozhye Region and inflicted damage by fire on Ukrainian forces near the settlement of Staromayorskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the ministry said.

The enemy’s losses in the south Donetsk direction over the past 24 hours amounted to 200 Ukrainian personnel killed and wounded, an infantry fighting vehicle, two armored combat vehicles and a D-20 howitzer, the ministry said.

Reuters/Tass