This advance may be related to a reported rout of Russian forces in Klishchiivka, 5km (2.2 miles) southwest of Bakhmut.

“Our defenders have been keeping the entrances, exits and movement of the enemy through the city under fire control for several days,” she wrote on Telegram. Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces managed to capture key heights over Bakhmut, putting their artillery in range of Russian positions in the city itself. The Bakhmut territorial gains appear to be especially significant. “We are starting to enter those territories that we did not control from the very beginning ,” Mykola Volokhov, commander of the intelligence unit Terra, said, referring to territory Russia seized in 2014. In five weeks, Ukrainian forces have liberated nearly the same amount of territory that Russian forces captured in over six months,” the ISW said.Ī Ukrainian military intelligence unit commander said Bakhmut – almost completely occupied by Russian forces in early May after the war’s longest and bloodiest battle – was slowly but steadily falling back into Ukrainian hands. “Russian forces have captured a total of 282 square kilometers in the entire theater since January 1. That would bring to 162sq km (63sq miles) the territory Ukraine claims to have recaptured since its counteroffensive began on June 4.īut the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank made its own independent assessment of recaptured territory and said the figure was closer to 253sq km (98sq miles).

Ukraine’s general staff said its forces seized 4sq km (1.8sq miles) over the previous week around the eastern city of Bakhmut. Other NATO allies meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday and Wednesday also announced significant new weapons pledges.ĭespite their battlefield difficulties, Ukrainian forces have continued to advance. That assessment was given by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview, but even as he spoke, the United States was helping to move Ukraine past that obstacle, pledging to give it cluster bombs designed for use against heavily fortified defensive positions. Ukraine’s counteroffensive slowed down visibly in the 72nd week of the war because of entrenched Russian defences as NATO allies pledged more heavy weaponry for the fight.

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