Ukraine says ‘particularly fruitful’ few days in counteroffensive

A Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces has been “particularly fruitful” in recent days, according to a senior security official.

The comments by Oleksiy Danilov, who heads Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, were Kyiv’s latest positive assessment of the month-old counterattack, although Moscow has not acknowledged advances by Ukraine.A Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces has been “particularly fruitful” in recent days, according to a senior security official.

The comments by Oleksiy Danilov, who heads Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, were Kyiv’s latest positive assessment of the month-old counterattack, although Moscow has not acknowledged advances by Ukraine.In its latest assessment, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington, DC-based think tank, said Danilov’s comments appeared to underline an “ongoing campaign to attrit Russian manpower and assets over attempting to conduct massive sweeping mechanized maneuvers to regain large swaths of territory rapidly”.

Earlier, Maliar said on July 3 Ukraine had liberated about 37.4sq km (14.4sq miles) of territory in eastern and southern Ukraine over the previous week.

“The current pace of Ukrainian operations is not indicative of a stalemate or evidence that Ukraine cannot retake large areas,” ISW said.“… Our forces are encountering serious resistance,” she told national television. “The enemy is pouring in all its forces to stop in the south and in the east.”

Russian forces, she said, were also making advances further north, near Lyman and in Svatove, where Russian troops have recently been particularly active.

In Makiivka, a town in the Russian-controlled part of the eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine’s military had destroyed a formation of Russian forces. Russia-installed officials said one civilian died and 36 others were injured in the attack.

Russia’s defence ministry spokesperson Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, meanwhile, said Russian troops repelled 10 Ukrainian attacks in the direction of Donetsk in the previous 24 hours, according to state news agency TASS. He said dozens of Ukrainian soldiers were injured or killed and key equipment including HIMARS systems destroyed.

Russia also claimed to have repelled attacks near Lyman and disrupted Ukrainian operations in the Zaporizhia region, where Ukraine says its forces have captured a cluster of villages.