Ukrainian forces have broken through Russia’s defences in the south of the country while expanding their rapid offensive in the east, reclaiming more territory in areas annexed by Moscow and threatening their enemies’ supply lines.
Making their biggest breakthrough in the south since the war began, Ukrainian forces recaptured several villages in an advance along the strategic Dnipro River on Monday, Ukrainian officials and a Russian-installed leader in the area said.
The southern breakthrough mirrors recent Ukrainian advances in the east despite Moscow trying to raise the stakes by annexing land, ordering mobilisation, and threatening nuclear retaliation.
In a sign Ukraine is building momentum on the eastern front, Reuters saw columns of Ukrainian military vehicles heading to reinforce the rail hub of Lyman on Monday.
The city, which was retaken over the weekend, appears to be a staging post to press into the Donbas region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his army had seized back towns in a number of areas, without providing details.
“New population centres have been liberated in several regions,” he said in a video address.
“Heavy fighting is going on on several sectors of the front.”
Vladimir Saldi, the Russian-installed leader in occupied parts of Ukraine’s Kherson province, told Russian state television that Ukrainian troops had recaptured the town of Dudchany along the west bank of the Dnipro River, which bisects the country.
“There are settlements that are occupied by Ukrainian forces,” Mr Saldi said.
Dudchany is around 30 kilometres south of where the front stood before Monday’s breakthrough, indicating the fastest advance of the war so far in the south. Russian forces there had been dug into heavily reinforced positions along a mainly static front line since the early weeks of the invasion. (ABC)