KYIV—The Ukrainian military claimed successes against Russian soldiers on the southeastern front on Thursday, pressing forward from a freshly freed settlement in an attempt to march towards the Sea of Azov.
The military claimed to have made gains south of Urozhaine, a settlement within a few kilometers from the Russian bastion of Staromlynivka. On Wednesday, Kyiv claimed to have retaken Urozhaine as it attempts to create southern momentum in order to divide Russia's soldiers in half.
"In the direction south of Urozhaine, they (Ukrainian troops) had success," military spokesperson Andriy Kovaliov said on national television. He didn't go into any further detail.
Urozhaine, in the Donetsk area, was the first village Kyiv claimed to have retaken since July 27, highlighting the difficulty of penetrating through highly mined Russian defense lines without significant air help.
It's around 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of the Sea of Azov and about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Russian-held Donetsk.
Urozhaine and the neighboring town of Staromaiorske, according to Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in regions of Zaporizhzhia controlled by Moscow, are not under Ukrainian sovereignty.
On Thursday morning, Mr. Rogov said on Telegram that Russian forces had halted a Ukrainian attack towards the town of Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia area, west of Urozhaine.
Ukraine's Kovaliov also reported severe combat in the northeastern Kharkiv region and near an eastern settlement of Bakhmut, where Russian soldiers took control of in May following a violent months-long battle.
“The enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive actions in the area of Senkivka in Kharkiv region and Bohdanivka in Donetsk. There are serious battles here,” he claimed.
The Ukrainian interior ministry published video on Wednesday showing forces battling inside the settlement of Klishchiivka, just south of Bakhmut. Reuters was unable to confirm the footage or determine when it was shot.
The video shows troops fighting in and around the settlement, as well as emptying a cellar with grenades.
On Wednesday, a Ukrainian general stated that Russia was attacking Kupiansk, a town in the Kharkiv area, but Kovaliov stated that Ukraine was keeping them back, as well as Russian assaults to Bakhmut's north and near the town of Lyman.
Russia controls roughly a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula, the majority of the Luhansk region, and huge swaths of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson areas.
Kyiv claims that its counter-offensive is taking longer than expected due to massive Russian minefields and strongly built Russian defense lines.
