Ukrainian soldiers liberate village of Andriivka near Bakhmut

The Ukrainian troops freed the village of Andriiivka in the eastern Donetsk region, says Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar.  

"Andriivka is ours," Maliar said.

According to the deputy defense minister, the Ukrainian military is moving forward on the Bakhmut front, but the Russian forces are still trying to retake lost positions on the northern flank. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian troops are successfully advancing in the south.

According to Maliar, the main battles are currently taking place in the areas of Andriivka, Kurdiumivka, and Klishchiivka.

"And we have good news there. We are consolidating on the captured positions," the deputy minister added.

The situation at the front

The Ukrainian military continues to knock out the Russian troops from the south of Ukraine. Their goal is to clear the line from the left bank for at least 10-15 km.

Malyar recently stated that the Russian occupiers don't want to leave their lost positions in the south, so the Ukrainian forces have to protect the captured lines from enemy assaults. 

She also said that the Ukrainian army has had steady success on the Bakhmut front and is advancing in the south. In the meantime, the situation worsened near Maryinka and Avdiiivka, where the Russians increased artillery shelling and are trying to storm the Ukrainian positions.

Land Forces Commander Sirskyi believes that Russian troops are not abandoning plans to reach the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and are persistently preparing to take revenge, so the operational situation in the east remains difficult.

The Ukrainian Defense Forces have eliminated more than 600 Russian invaders over the past day. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has lost almost 271,000 soldiers.