Ukraine liberates key village near Bakhmut in counter-offensive

Ukraine has captured the town of Andriivka in Donetsk, kyiv announced Thursday, as Ukrainian fighters continue their counter-offensive largely focused on the southern front lines.

Ukrainian fighters have regained control of the town of Andriivka, about six miles southwest of the decimated town of Bakhmut, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said in a statement Thursday.

Ukraine’s fierce counteroffensive, now in its third month, has channeled a significant portion of kyiv’s resources toward breaking through well-fortified Russian defenses in the annexed Zaporizhzhia region. Earlier this month, Ukraine said it was now between the first and second lines of defense around the town of Robotyne, south of the Ukrainian town of Orikhiv.

But Ukraine continues fighting in the eastern Donetsk region, and reports and analysis around Andriivka paint an uncertain picture of the fighting in the city in recent days. Influential Russian military bloggers have presented “conflicting reports” on Andriivka, the US think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, said in its latest update.

In an earlier statement from Ukraine’s General Staff, Ukraine said its forces had had “partial success” around Andriivka, the neighboring disputed town of Klishchiivka, and Bakhmut, without specifying further that the Russia had suffered “significant losses in manpower and equipment.”

This is a developing story and will be updated soon with additional information.