Ukraine says it recaptured a village; Russia insists it’s repelling assaults

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s navy on Sunday reported recapturing a village within the southeast of the nation amid Russian claims of repelling a number of assaults within the space, the newest indication {that a} extremely anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive is likely to be underway whilst officers in Kyiv cease wanting publicly acknowledging it.

The 68th Separate Hunting Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces posted a video on Facebook exhibiting troopers putting in a Ukrainian flag on a broken constructing in what the put up stated was the village of Blahodatne within the partially occupied japanese Donetsk area. In a separate social media put up, Ukraine’s Ground Forces confirmed that the brigade had retaken Blahodatne.

Myroslav Semeniuk, spokesman for the brigade, advised The Associated Press that an assault workforce captured six Russian troops after coming into a number of buildings the place some 60 troopers had been holed up. “The enemy keeps shelling us but this won’t stop us,” Semeniuk stated. “The next village we plan to reclaim is Urozhayne. After that, (we’ll proceed) further south.”

While the recapture of Blahodatne pointed to a small Ukrainian advance, Western and Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly cautioned that efforts to expel Russian troops extra broadly are anticipated take time. Russia has made a lot of how its troops have held their floor elsewhere.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday continued to insist that it was repelling Ukrainian assaults within the space. It stated in a press release that Ukrainian makes an attempt at offensive operations on the southern Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia axes of the frontline over the previous 24 hours have been “unsuccessful.”

Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official within the Zaporizhzhia area, insisted that Blahodatne, together with two different villages in Zaporizhzhia, are in a “gray area” when it comes to who controls them. According to Rogov, the Ukrainian forces have briefly seized one other village within the neighboring Donetsk area, however had been swiftly routed by the Russian troops.

“The situation is developing. Nothing extraordinary is happening,” Rogov stated in a Telegram put up.

The Russian navy have additionally accused Ukrainian forces of attacking – albeit unsuccessfully – considered one of its ships within the Black Sea.

According to a press release by Russia’s Defense Ministry, the tried assault befell on Sunday when six unmanned speedboats focused Russia’s Priazovye reconnaissance vessel that was “monitoring the situation and ensuring security along the routes of the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines in the southeastern part of the Black Sea.”

All the speedboats had been destroyed by the Russian navy, and the ship didn’t maintain any harm, the ministry stated. The declare couldn’t be independently verified, and Ukrainian officers made no instant remark.

Moscow made an identical allegation final month and reported that Ukrainian unmanned speedboats focused one other reconnaissance ship within the Black Sea, the Ivan Khurs. Several days later, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry printed video that appeared to indicate a marine drone heading for the Ivan Khurs, however didn’t present the drone hitting the ship.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated Saturday that “counteroffensive and defensive actions” had been underway in opposition to Russian forces. He refused to reveal any particulars however requested to go it on to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his high commanders had been in a “positive” mindset as their troops engaged in intense combating alongside the entrance line.

Zelenskyy made the remarks at a Kyiv information convention alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in response to a query about Putin’s remark a day earlier that Ukraine’s counteroffensive had began – and Ukrainian forces had been taking “significant losses.”