Ukraine forces retake village

FE Team | Published: June 19, 2023 23:17:55

KYIV, June 18 (Reuters): Ukraine said on Monday its forces had recaptured Piatykhatky, a village on the road to one of the most heavily defended areas of the Russian-occupied south, and that they had retaken 113 square km (44 square miles) of land in the last two weeks.
Ukrainian soldiers held up yellow-and-blue national flags in a video circulated on social media, in which they said they were inside Piatykhatky, the eighth southeastern village that Kyiv says it has liberated.
"Today, Jun 18, the forces of 128 assault brigade chased out the Russians from the village of Piatykhatky. The Russians ran away leaving equipment and ammunition. Glory to Ukraine!" an unidentified soldier said. Reuters could not immediately verify where the video was shot.
A Russian-installed official in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region had said on Sunday that Kyiv's troops had retaken Piatykhatky, but that they had then been pushed out and that the settlement was now located in a "grey" area of control.
Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces had not only retaken Piatykhatky but had advanced by up to seven km (4.3 miles) into Russian lines in two weeks.
"In the course of two weeks of offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions, eight settlements were liberated," Maliar wrote on the Telegram messenger.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield assertions.
Seven wounded as strikes
hit Russia border regions
Strikes from Ukraine hit two Russian border regions early on Monday, wounding seven people, including a child, local governors said.
Strikes on the Belgorod region hit several residential buildings in the Valuisk district, Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.
"The Valuisk municipal district is under attack from from Ukrainian forces. According to preliminary information, seven people were wounded, among them a child," he wrote in a post that included a photo of a teddy bear next to a broken window.
All of the wounded have been hospitalised, he said.
Strikes on the Kursk border region hit two villages, causing damage but no victims, Governor Roman Starovoit said.
"Ukrainian forces hit the Tyotkino and Popovo-Lezhachi villages this morning," Starovoit wrote on Telegram, adding that the strikes caused power outages and damaged several vehicles.
In Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Governor Sergei Aksyonov said two drones were shot down overnight.
Attacks on Russian regions bordering Ukraine and in Crimea have increased over the past several weeks, as Ukraine forces wage a counteroffensive to recapture land seized by Russian troops.