Ukrainian military officials announced Monday that their troops had retaken a village in the south-east from Russian forces. This was one of the first — and small — victories in the counteroffensive against Moscow’s 15-month-long invasion of Ukraine.

Hanna Maliar, Deputy Defense Ministry Hanna Maliar, wrote on Telegram about the Ukrainian flag flying again over the village Storozhov and predicted that the liberation “of all Ukrainian land” was the end result. Ukrainian officials had announced a day earlier that three small villages south of Velika Novosilke, in eastern Donetsk Region, were liberated.

These villages are situated in the “Vremivka Ledge,” an area of the frontline where Russian controlled territory protrudes onto Ukrainian-held territory. This area is one of many epicenters for intense fighting.

Some military bloggers acknowledge that Russian control has been lost over the villages.

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Russian authorities have stated that their troops are largely holding their ground on the front line of more than 600 miles (over 1,000 kilometers) along the southern and eastern Ukraine.

Analysts and military officials in the West have warned that any attempt to remove entrenched Russian troops, who are well-armed and highly skilled, will take months. The success of any Ukrainian offensive is also far from certain.

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Saturday that “counteroffensive and defensive actions are being taken” without specifying if it is a full-scale counteroffensive. This was a day after Russian leader Vladimir Putin claimed the counteroffensive has begun and Ukrainian forces have suffered “significant losses.”

Authorities on both sides of active front lines along the Dnieper River, in southern Kherson Region, continued to rescue and relocate civilians who were forced from their homes last week by flooding caused by the breach of Kakhovka Dam.

U.N. officials and other aid organizations say that access to clean drinking water is an urgent need, and that the spread of waterborne diseases is a major concern.

A local official reported that three people died when troops from Moscow opened fire on a boat that was evacuating residents of Russian-occupied territory.

Zelenskyy announced late Sunday that envoys of the International Criminal Court had visited the area to investigate the catastrophe, which forced thousands from their homes and killed at least 14.

“It’s very important for the representatives of the international justice to have seen and heard the Russian terrorist act with their own ears, Zelenskyy stated.

The Ukrainian authorities accused the Russian forces that controlled the area surrounding the dam of deliberately destroying the dam. Russian officials blame Ukrainian shelling.

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