Moscow: The main theatres of Ukraine's campaign to retake territory taken by Russian invaders, the east and southeast, saw heavy fighting on Tuesday, according to the military, which also claimed its forces had repulsed numerous enemy attacks.
President Volodymyr Zelensky suggests that the early stages of a counter offensive in those two regions are going according to plan. He also expressed some frustration with NATO for not providing Ukraine with a timetable for alliance membership.
He does, however, add that he would prefer faster advancements. Conflicts were also described in Russian reports from the front lines, including a successful defence of areas close to the destroyed city of Bakhmut, where Ukraine claims its forces are regaining ground.
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Andriy Kovaliov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian General Staff, claimed that Ukrainian forces had repulsed a Russian advance supported by artillery strikes near two towns to the north of Bakhmut, which had been taken by Russian mercenary forces in late May.
There has been a lot of focus on the tumultuous situation near Bakhmut, where Ukraine has noted gains in the strategic village of Klishchiivka on the city's southern outskirts.
According to analysts, liberating the village would give Ukrainian forces an operational edge in potentially encircling Russian forces in Bakhmut. The village is located on higher ground.
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Ukraine claimed control over the heights encircling the village on Monday, giving it access to targets inside Bakhmut.
Russian forces, according to the Russian Defence Ministry, repelled nine attempts by the Ukrainian military to advance in the eastern Donetsk region, including one drive near Kliishchivka.
With the aim of cutting off Russia's land bridge connecting eastern Ukraine to the Crimea peninsula, which it annexed in 2014, Ukraine claims to have retaken a group of villages in the south. The drive towards the Sea of Azov is currently in its early stages.
In a Telegram post, Ukrainian General Oleksander Tarnavskyi claimed that fighting was taking place all throughout the sector and that his troops had successfully repelled 27 enemy assaults. He calculated that several hundred dead and wounded, or the equivalent, were Russian losses over a 24-hour period.
Despite all of Ukraine's gains in its counteroffensive, Russian forces continue to control sizable areas of the country after more than 500 days of hostilities; according to some estimates, they control 17% of Ukrainian territory.
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Serhiy Hrabskyi, a military analyst for Ukraine, said that taking into account Russian defence preparations and extensive mining, Ukraine's drive towards the coast was going well.
He stated on the Espreso TV website, "We note that in a month and a half of offensive operations, we have brought in 25% of our resources. By virtue of basic maths, if we keep going at this rate, it will take four months.