Ukrainian army strengthens front line position in southern counteroffensive

As part of their counteroffensive, the Ukrainian forces continue aligning the front line in Ukraine's south to entrench at the necessary boundaries.

Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar announced this on the air of the national news telethon.

"In the east, we confidently move along the flanks around Bakhmut. We did not enter the city itself. We now control the southwestern outskirts of the city. But the main battles are around," she said. "There is an offensive in several directions. This is an advance in all directions in which we are moving. At the same time, the enemy has brought many forces there."

She added that the Ukrainian army is progressing with varying degrees of success in the south. "Somewhere more than a kilometer, somewhere less, somewhere it happens up to two kilometers, on different fronts," Maliar said.

Maliar added that there is a struggle at the front for which parties will hold the initiative. According to her, both in the east and in the south, Ukraine has seized the initiative and is advancing in all directions. At the same time, she added that this is an operational initiative.

"The overriding task is the destruction of the enemy's forces. Imagine: command posts, equipment, tanks, rotorcraft, and places of the compact military gathering are destroyed daily. If all this were not destroyed, it would go against us," said Maliar. "When we seize the initiative, it does not mean we are simply moving forward. We have defeated so many enemy forces that they cannot stop this initiative. Only the military can assess this. According to their assessment, everything is moving according to plan."

In the morning, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that Ukrainian fighters had partial success and were gaining ground in several directions in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions in Ukraine's east and southeast.