The Ukrainian army announced on Sunday the capture of the village of Blagodatné in southeastern Ukraine, the first territorial gain claimed since the start of its offensive against Russian troops in this part of the front.
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“The glorious soldiers of the 68th brigade […] liberated the locality of Blagodatné,” the Ukrainian ground forces said on Facebook, accompanied by a video showing soldiers with a Ukrainian flag in a destroyed building.
According to the spokesman of the units responsible for the defense of the “Front Tavria” which took part in the operation, Valery Cherchène, the Ukrainians captured two Russian soldiers and pro-Russian separatist fighters.
“The Ukrainian flag was hung over Blagodatné,” he added of this village, which had less than 1,000 inhabitants before the war.
This locality is located on the border of the regions of Donetsk and Zaporijjia, in the south-east of Ukraine, where Moscow has reported heavy Ukrainian attacks for almost a week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on Saturday “counter-offensive actions” by his army on the front, without specifying whether this is the big attack prepared for months by the staff in Kyiv.
His Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin assured him on Friday that this vast Ukrainian counter-offensive had “begun”, but that the Kyiv forces had failed to achieve their objectives after several days of fighting.