Ukraine announces retaking village in southeast, first gain of offensive

Kyiv announced on Sunday that Ukrainian forces have retaken a village in the war-torn country's southeast, the first reported gain of the offensive.

Ukraine's ground forces said in a statement that soldiers of the 68th separate ranger brigade had "liberated the settlement of Blagodatne" in the eastern region of Donetsk.

The ground forces released a video showing soldiers carrying a Ukrainian flag into a destroyed building.


Another military spokesman, Valeriy Shershen, said in televised remarks that the retaken village was located on the border of the region of Donetsk and the southern region of Zaporizhzhia where Moscow has reported heavy Ukrainian assaults over the past week.

He said Ukraine's forces captured several Russian and pro-Russian troops, adding that the Ukrainian flag was hoisted over Blagodatne.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a counteroffensive against Russian forces was underway but refused to provide any details.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week Kyiv's offensive had already begun but was already failing.