A woman walks behind a mural showing a child playing with a tank bearing the Z letter, a tactical insignia of Russian troops in Ukraine, in the Russian port city of Vladivostok on September 13, 2023. (Photo by Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP)
Kyiv: Ukraine said on Thursday its forces had retaken a village near the war-battered city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, several months into its grinding counteroffensive against entrenched Russian positions.
Kyiv began pushing back against Moscow's forces in the south and east of the country in June after building up Western weapons and recruiting assault battalions.
"We are moving forward in the Bakhmut sector. On the northern flank, the enemy is trying to recapture lost ground. On the southern flank, we are making progress," Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar, said on social media.
"And we have good news there -- Andriivka is ours. We are consolidating our positions," she added.
Bakhmut, a town that was once home to around 70,000 people, was captured by Russian forces in May following one of the longest and bloodiest battles of Russia's invasion.
Ukrainian forces, however, almost immediately began pushing back around the northern and southern flanks of the city and have been posting incremental gains.
Andriivka is around 14 kilometres (9 miles) south of Bakhmut, with an estimated pre-war population of fewer than 100 people.
