Ukraine says troops retake nearly 18sqkm of territory in east, south

Ukrainian forces have retaken nearly 18 square km (7 square miles) of territory in the east and the south in the past week in their counteroffensive against Russian forces, Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on Monday (17 July).

The advances brought the total territory recaptured so far during the counteroffensive to more than 210sqkm, she said in updates on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukraine launched its counteroffensive in June, aiming to retake occupied territory and seize the initiative in Russia's full-scale invasion, now in its 17th month.

Maliar said troops had retaken 7sqkm in the past week in the direction of Bakhmut in the east, a small city captured by Russian forces in May after the bloodiest combat of the war. That brought the total recaptured in the area to 31sqkm.

In the south, where Ukrainian forces are trying to advance towards the cities of Berdyansk and Melitopol, they had recaptured nearly 11sqkm in the past week, bringing the total territory recaptured there to nearly 180sqkm.

Maliar added that Russian forces have been advancing since the end of last week towards the city of Kupiansk in the eastern Kharkiv region.