KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that his forces are making “rapid and powerful” gains in southern Ukraine and have recaptured “dozens” of villages from Russia this week.
“The Ukrainian army is advancing temporarily and strongly in the south,” Zelensky said in his social media diary, adding that “dozens of settlements” had been retaken in the south and east.
Some territory has been reclaimed in the Kherson, Luhansk and Donetsk regions, he said, where referendums were held last week on Russia’s annexation.
Kyiv and the West have denounced the referendums as a farce.
Zelensky cited eight settlements in the southern Kherson region, where Moscow’s forces withdrew in the face of a large-scale Ukrainian counteroffensive, according to maps presented Tuesday by the Russian Defense Ministry.
The most recent maps revealed in Moscow showed that Russian troops had left many spaces in Kherson, adding along the western bank of the Dnieper.
In the northeastern region of Kharkiv, the mapping indicated that Russian forces had completely abandoned the east bank of the Oskil River, where they had maintained a foothold.
“Our foot soldiers don’t stop. And it’s only a matter of time before we evict the occupier from all our land,” Zelensky said.
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