Kyiv said it had made the first modest gains in reclaiming territory from Russia as part of its counteroffensive.
In the first reported gains of its much-anticipated counteroffensive, Kyiv says its forces have reclaimed territory from Russia.
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar on Monday posted a message on Telegram saying that Ukraine's flag was again flying over the village of Storozheve.
Unverified videos showed troops hoisting the Ukrainian flag in the village of Blahodatne in the Donetsk region and their unit's flag in the adjacent village of Neskuchne.
Ukraine also said its troops had made advances in Makarivka, but some prominent Russian military bloggers suggested that while Ukrainian forces took Blahodatne and Neskuchne, the fight for Makarivka was going on.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had repelled Ukrainian attacks around several villages in the southeast of the country, contradicting earlier claims from Kyiv that its forces had retaken the settlements.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday acknowledged that some counteroffensive actions had begun.
While staying largely silent over the past week about the counteroffensive, Ukraine's military reported other battlefield successes on Monday.
"Over the last week in the Bakhmut direction, the Russian invaders suffered significant losses," the general staff said in a daily update.
