Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with soldiers who participated in the counteroffensive in the Dobropilya area, Donetsk region, Ukrinform reported, BTA reports.
„I talked with the defenders, thanked them for the results achieved and presented them with state awards. I also received a report from Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky on the progress of the operation, the general situation on the front and upcoming plans,” Zelensky wrote in Telegram.
Progress of Ukrainian forces
According to him, Ukrainian forces are liberating the country “step by step.”
Since the beginning of the operation, 160 sq. km. and seven settlements have been restored.
An additional 170 sq. km. and nine settlements have been liberated from the occupiers.
Nearly a hundred Russian soldiers have been captured.
In recent weeks alone, Russian forces have suffered thousands of casualties – killed and wounded.
Zelensky described the fighting near Dobropilya and Pokrovsk as particularly heavy. “Our forces are depriving the occupier of the opportunity to carry out a full-fledged offensive operation, which they have long been planning and counting on,“ he stressed in an address quoted by “Reuters“.
New Russian strike on civilians
Meanwhile, a Russian FAB-250 guided bomb hit the town of Kostyantynivka, near the front line. The national police said five people were killed - two women and three men - and four residential buildings were damaged. The strike occurred at around 10 a.m., Ukrinform reported.