KYIV: Forces of Ukraine have retaken another formerly Russian-held village on the two armies’ southern front, deputy defense minister Ganna Malyar announced Monday.
The minister announced on her Telegram account that defense forces had taken control of Rivnopil, a rural village in the Donetsk area. This month, Ukraine launched a counteroffensive against Russian forces occupying roughly a fifth of its land in the country’s south and east. Despite the fact that Ukraine has begun to deploy additional Western-supplied weapons and tanks, President Volodymyr Zelensky has recognized that the advance has not been as rapid as intended.
However, a breakthrough has occurred in the Mokri Yaly river valley, south of Velika Novosilka in Donetsk, and the recapturing of Rivnopil would be a continuation of this progress. On June 16, two weeks after the formal start of Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive, the Russian military reported fighting for Rivnopil. Malyar had earlier stated that another 17 square kilometers (6.5 square miles) had been liberated in a summary of last week’s fight, increasing the total to 130 square kilometers.