Ukraine reports Russian attacks in east

Ukrainian forces are resisting a
Russian onslaught in eastern areas of the front and face
difficulties in the northeast, but are making progress near the
shattered city of Bakhmut and in the south, the deputy defence
minister said on Sunday.
Russian accounts of the front line said Moscow’s forces had
repelled Ukrainian attacks near villages ringing Bakhmut and in
areas further south, particularly the strategic hilltop town of
Vuhlear. They also reported success in containing Ukrainian
troops in the northeast.
Reuters could not confirm any of the battlefield accounts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, meanwhile,
presented awards to troops in the port of Odesa and vowed: “The
enemy will in no way dictate its terms in the Black Sea!”
Ukraine’s military have been engaged in a counter-offensive
to recapture areas of the east and south seized in Russia’s
16-month-old invasion. The initial Ukrainian advances have
focused on securing clusters of villages in the south.
Deputy Ukrainian Defence Minister Hanna Maliar, writing on
Telegram, said “everywhere things are hot” in the east, with
Russian forces advancing near the beleaguered cities of Avdiivka
and Maryinka in Donetsk region.
“In addition, the enemy has started an attack in the Svatove
area,” she said, referring to a region of northeastern Ukraine
where Russian forces have been active. “Fierce fighting is
taking place…The situation is quite complicated.”
Maliar reported “partial success” south of Bakhmut, taken in
late May by Russian forces after months of fierce fighting.
And on the southern front, where Ukrainian forces have
recaptured several villages, Maliar said there had been “gradual
advances” in two areas.
“Our troops are facing intense enemy resistance, remote
mining and the redeployment of enemy reserves, but are
tirelessly creating the conditions for the fastest possible
advance,” she wrote.
General Oleksander Tarnavskiy, responsible for the southern
front, said Ukrainian forces were “systematically destroying the
enemy” and reported the deaths of several hundred Russian forces
over then last 24 hours.
Zelenskiy and Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, General Valery
Zaluzhniy, have reported steady, if slow, advances in the
campaign. The president acknowledges progress is limited, but
says the drive is “not a Hollywood movie” with instant success.
Ukraine has also had to endure persistent Russian air
attacks on Ukrainian cities, though the Kremlin denies attacking
civilian targets.
Russia launched an overnight drone attack on Kyiv and the
surrounding region on Sunday after a 12-day break, with air
defence systems destroying all the weapons on their approach.