It's unclear if the claimed advances part of Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive. Meanwhile, a pro-Ukraine group said it would transfer captured Russian soldiers from Belgorod to Kyiv. DW has the latest.
Ednews informs that Ukrainian said on Monday it was conducting "offensive actions" near the flashpoint city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainan forces managed to destroy a Russian position near the city, according to ground forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.
"In some sectors we are conducting offensive actions," Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar added on Monday afternoon.
"The Bakhmut sector remains the epicenter of the hostilities. We are advancing there on a rather wide front. We are having some success."
Her comments came after Russia's Defense Ministry claimed to have thwarted a major Ukrainian offensive in the same region, Donetsk.
Moscow said on Monday Ukrainian forces had used six mechanized and two tank battalions in the offensive on Sunday. It added that Russian forces killed 250 Ukrainian troops and destroyed dozens of tanks and vehicles.
"The enemy's goal was to break through our defenses in the most vulnerable, in its opinion, sector of the front," said the ministry's spokesman, Igor Konashenkov. "The enemy did not achieve its tasks. It had no success."
Meanwhile, a Russian-installed official in Ukraine's partly occupied Zaporizhzhia province, Vladimir Rogov, reported that "a battle is underway" on the border with Donetsk.
Neither side's claims could not be independently verified. It remains unclear whether the alleged attacks are part of Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture territories taken by Russia.
Ukrainian officials have spoken of a planned counteroffensive for months, but they have not elaborated the scale of such an attack — whether it would be a fully-fledged assault across the entire 1,100-kilometer (684-mile) front line, or smaller ones to weaken Russia's forces and facilities.
Ukraine offensive seems to be starting: military expert
