The Ukrainian armed forces promoted an operation in which they said dozens of Russian soldiers had been killed.
Kiev said on Friday that three days ago an “effective fire attack” by Ukrainian forces on a training camp where there was a “concentration of militants” led to enemy losses of 56 people.
The update did not specify the exact location of the alleged Russian casualties, but the statement was preceded by Kiev saying that Chechen forces had engaged in looting in the southwestern part of Donetsk region.
The update, from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, also stated that Russia had launched a total of 43 airstrikes and 79 strikes from missile systems and that “the enemy continues to focus its main efforts on the Liman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka directions.”
Meanwhile, the governor of Poltava region in central Ukraine, Dmytro Lunin, said on Saturday that Russian forces launched an air strike targeting the Mirhorod military airport, using ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones, although the damage was limited.
The Ukrainian counter-offensive is reported to have begun although Kiev has not made any official announcement about the widely expected push to retake Russian-held territory.
However, Kiev said it had gained ground with Serhiy Sherevaty, a spokesman for the Eastern Grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, saying on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had advanced for nearly a mile in “various sections” although the exact location was not specified.
Shirevati said in televised remarks that in the Bakhmut region, 138 Russian soldiers were killed and 236 others wounded during the previous day.
He added that the Russian forces were trying to launch a counter-attack, but they did not succeed, and that there were heavy losses among the Russian forces and the destruction of military equipment. Newsweek Contact the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Friday that Ukrainian forces have made further gains around Pakhmut and in western Donetsk and that counter-offensive operations are continuing in at least four areas of the front.
The think tank noted that Russian news sources prematurely claimed that the counterattack had indeed failed, referring to the damage to equipment provided by the West.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the counter-offensive had begun but that Ukrainian forces “did not reach their targets in any of the combat zones”.
Separately, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Kiev where he paid tribute to fallen Ukrainian soldiers and laid a wreath at a memorial site at St. Michael’s Cathedral in the Ukrainian capital.