Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Ukraine is claiming some of its most significant victories in the south since the start of the Russian invasion, claiming Monday it has recaptured two settlements in the south and one in the east as part of its counter-offensive.

Ukrainian policeman inspects the debris of a rocket near a recently shelled school in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. Ukraine claimed counter-offensive victories in the south and east on Monday. Photo by Sergey Kozlov/EPA-EFE
Ukrainian policeman inspects the debris of a rocket near a recently shelled school in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. Ukraine claimed counter-offensive victories in the south and east on Monday. Photo by Sergey Kozlov/EPA-EFE© Sergey Kozlov/EPA-EFE

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, posted an image of soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over a village he said was in Ukraine's south, which has been mostly controlled by Russia.

Ukraine's military's Operational Command South said its Air Force carried out 21 strikes, while "rocket and artillery units continue to carry out fire missions intensively. Crossings through the Dnipro and Inhulets (rivers) are under close fire control," according to The Guardian.

Kyiv claimed it has destroyed six Russian tanks and other equipment, including nine howitzers.

"After intensive shelling by the Defense Forces of areas where the enemy is concentrated in the Kherson region, Russian invaders imposed a ban on the movement of local residents," Ukraine's General Staff said Monday, according to CNN. "In particular, people are prohibited from crossing the Dnipro River both by bridges and by watercraft."

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Despite Ukraine's reported success in the South, the British Defense Ministry said Russia has kept the bulk of its forces in the eastern Donbas region for fear of losing territory there.

"Its principal axes of advance in the Donbas remain at Avdiivka near Donetsk City and, [40 miles] to the north, around Bakhmut," the ministry said on Twitter. "AlthoughRussia has had the most success in this sector, its forces have still only been advancing around one kilometer per week towards Bakhmut."

The ministry said the reason for holding fast in the east for Moscow is meant to serve a political victory by claiming the whole Donetsk Oblast but they have not been able to secure that goal yet.

In Afghanistan, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Russian embassy in Kabul, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday. Two embassy staff members were killed in the attack along with some Afghans. Taliban guards killed the attacker as he approached but the bomb went off regardless, Afghan police said. Russian officials called it an act of terrorism against the country.

 

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