Ukraine reported Monday fierce fighting along the front lines and “some successes” in pushing Moscow’s forces back in a part of southeast where Ukrainian troops are trying to retake Russian occupied territory.

Hanna Maliar, deputy defense minister, said that the progress has been hindered by Russian minefields laid throughout and strong fortifications.

Maliar stated that the Ukrainian military was pushing forward on two fronts, including around Staromaiorske village, which is located around 60 miles south of Russian-held Donetsk.

She said that troops were fighting to control the nearby settlement of Urozhaine. She said that troops were fighting for control of the neighboring settlement of Urozhaine.

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Maliar, in a message to an official military platform, said that hostilities were taking place near Urozhaine. The fight was for this specific locality. “There are some successes on the southern and Southeast axes near Staromaiorske.”

Ukrainian forces have made small gains since they began their long-awaited operations in June. However, officials in Kyiv admit that progress is slower than what they had hoped and has been hampered due to rigid Russian defenses.

Maliar’s Monday statement described the nature and scope of this challenge.

She said, “The Armed Forces face complete mining of the terrain, cement fortifications on the key heights (and) constant artillery and mortar shelling.” “The Russians also heavily use aviation.”

Maliar said that Ukrainian troops retook nearly 2 square miles in the last week, around the destroyed eastern city of Bakhmut. This is where Russian and Ukrainian soldiers fought the most bloody battle of the war’s nearly 18-month duration.

She said that Russian troops are continuing their offensive around the eastern towns Kupyansk, and Lyman where they have been regrouping.

Maliar stated that “the Russians have intensified their offensives following the success of the Ukrainian Army on Bakhmut’s axis.”

Around a fifth (or more) of Ukraine is still under Russian control, including the Crimean peninsula, the Luhansk Region in the East, and large swathes from the regions of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia. The occupied territories include most of Ukraine’s coastline and parts of the industrial heartland of Donbas.