Ukraine says it recaptured a village; Russia insists it is repelling attack

In another social media post, Ukrainian ground forces confirmed the brigade had recaptured Brahodatny

Kyiv: On Sunday, the Ukrainian military reported that it had recaptured a village in the southeastern part of the country after Russia claimed it had repelled multiple attacks in the region, the latest sign that Kiev officials were prepared to The anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive may be underway.

The 68th Independent Hunting Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces posted a video on Facebook showing soldiers installing a Ukrainian flag on a damaged building that the post said was part of the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region The village of Blahodatne.

In another social media post, Ukrainian ground forces confirmed that the brigade had recaptured Brahodatny.

Myroslav Semeniuk, a spokesman for the brigade, told The Associated Press that a commando captured six Russian soldiers after entering several buildings where about 60 soldiers were hiding.

“The enemy keeps shelling us, but that won’t stop us,” Semeniuk said. “The next village we plan to reclaim is Urozhayne. After that, (we will continue) further south.” While retaking Brahodatny represents modest progress in Ukraine, Western and Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly warned that The broader effort to expel Russian forces is expected to take time. Russia has largely emphasized the way its military is holding its ground elsewhere.

The Russian Defense Ministry continued to insist on Sunday that it was repelling Ukrainian attacks in the region. It said in a statement that Ukrainian offensive operations in the past 24 hours on the front-line south of Donetsk and the Zaporozhye axis had been “unsuccessful”. Vladimir Rogov, the Russian official in the Zaporozhye region, insisted that Blahodatne and two other villages in the Zaporozhye region were in a “grey area” in terms of control. “.

According to Rogoff, Ukrainian forces briefly captured another village in the neighboring Donetsk region but were quickly routed by Russian forces.

“The situation is developing. Nothing extraordinary is happening,” Rogoff said in a Telegram post.
The Russian military has also accused Ukrainian forces of attacking one of its warships in the Black Sea – although unsuccessfully.

According to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense, the attempted attack occurred on Sunday when six unmanned fast boats targeted the Russian surveillance ship Priazovye, which was “monitoring the situation and securing the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas flows in southeast Russia. Safety along the pipeline” Black Sea. All speedboats were destroyed by the Russian military and the ship suffered no damage, the ministry said. The claim could not be independently verified, and Ukrainian officials were not immediately available for comment.

Moscow made similar allegations last month, reporting that Ukrainian speedboats targeted another surveillance ship in the Black Sea, the Ivan Khurs.

A few days later, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense released a video that appeared to show an offshore drone heading towards the Ivan Khurs, but did not show the drone crashing into the ship.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that “counteroffensive and defensive operations” against Russian forces were underway.

He declined to give any details but asked to pass it on to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his top commanders were in a “positive” frame of mind as their troops engaged in heavy fighting on the front lines.

Zelensky made the remarks at a news conference in Kiev alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in response to Putin’s question a day earlier that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had begun – that Ukrainian troops were suffering “significant losses”. Ukraine’s top authorities have not announced that a full-scale counteroffensive is underway, although some Western analysts say reports of more intense fighting and the use of reserve forces suggest it is unfolding.