Ukraine says regaining more ground as Zelenskiy visits front

KIEV, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Ukraine said on Monday its troops had recaptured more territory on the eastern front and were advancing south in their counter-offensive against Russian forces as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited two frontline areas.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Kiev forces had retaken about 3 square kilometers (1.16 square miles) of land last week around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russian troops in May after months of intense fighting.

It also reported unspecified “hits” in the villages of Novodanylivka and Novoprokopivka in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, but gave no details.

Ukraine has recaptured some 47 square kilometers of territory around Bakhmut since its counter-offensive began in early June, Maliar wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Reuters was unable to verify the reports and Russia has not confirmed the Ukrainian advances. Both sides have seen the gains from small villages or tracts of land as recent successes.

Videos posted on the Ukrainian presidential website on Monday showed Zelenskiy visiting troops in the eastern Donetsk region, where Bakhmut is located, and in the Zaporizhzhia region, where Kiev forces are trying to push south as far as the Azov Sea.

Zelenskiy was shown handing out medals to soldiers at various locations and thanking medics at a field hospital on the southern front.

In his late-night speech, delivered from a train, the president said soldiers’ comments about the course of the conflict would be taken seriously.

“Everything our fighters talked about will be passed on to the participants in the commando meetings, especially regarding electronic warfare. Guys, we have clearly heard you,” he said.

Kiev officials have bristled at criticism in Western media reports that the counteroffensive has been too slow and hampered by poor tactics, notably the positioning of troops in too many places.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said last week that critics should “shut up.”

kyiv has retaken several villages and settlements in its three-month offensive, but its soldiers have been hampered by vast Russian minefields and trenches.

Painter saying Ukrainian troops had broken through the first line of Russian defenses last week, and the Ukrainian army now hopes to advance more quickly.

Moscow has continued to carry out air strikes on Ukrainian targets, including port infrastructure, and has reported Drone attacks on Russian territory.

A Russian Defense Ministry account on Telegram on Monday quoted an officer with the codename Hedgehog as saying: “The enemy is attacking heavily and seriously, but we stand our ground. We will not let them pass.”

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