Ukraine retakes key south-east village of Urozhaine from Russian forces

KYIV – Ukrainian forces have recaptured the village of Urozhaine from Russian troops in the south-east and dug in on its outskirts, Kyiv’s Deputy Defence Minister said on Wednesday.

“Urozhaine liberated,” Ms Hanna Maliar said on Telegram. “Our defenders are entrenched on the outskirts.”

Urozhaine, in the Donetsk region, is part of a cluster of small rural settlements that Ukraine declared as liberated since early June, when it started a push against Russian troops that control swathes of the south and east.

There was no immediate comment from Russia. Russian military bloggers said fierce fighting raged near the village, and that Russian units were trying to prevent Ukraine from strengthening its positions in Urozhaine.

The village’s recapture indicates that Ukraine is pressing ahead with an offensive drive south towards the Sea of Azov that aims to cut Russian occupying forces in half. Urozhaine lies just over 90km from the Sea of Azov.

In a sign of the difficulty of the battlefield operations, Urozhaine stands as the first village that Ukraine has reclaimed since June 27,

when it announced its recapture of neighbouring Staromaiorske.

Kyiv says its counteroffensive is progressing slower than it wants because of vast Russian minefields and well-prepared defensive lines.

The recapture of Urozhaine would bring Ukraine closer to threatening the village of Staromlynivka, several kilometres to the south, which military analysts say serves as a Russian stronghold in the area.

Russia controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine, including the peninsula of Crimea, most of the Luhansk region and large tracts of the regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. REUTERS