Fierce fighting was raging on multiple fronts in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official said on Monday, as she reported small gains over the past week in the east and south.

A few weeks into Ukraine’s long-anticipated counteroffensive against Russia, the official, Hanna Malyar, a deputy Ukrainian defence minister, said on Monday morning that “heavy fighting” was taking place in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have been making a push with attacks on the cities of Lyman and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region. Malyar said that the number of attacks had intensified over the past week, but that Ukrainian troops were resisting while also advancing in the direction of Bakhmut.

Overall, Malyar said, Kyiv’s forces had retaken about 3.5 square miles over the past week. Her statements could not be independently verified, and Russia’s ministry of defence has said those attempts to advance were repelled.

In southern Ukraine, Malyar said, Kyiv’s forces recaptured an additional 10.9 square miles in the past week. She added that “offensive actions” were continuing in the directions of Berdiansk and Melitopol, two cities long occupied by Russian forces.

Over the weekend, Malyar described the situation on the battlefield as “quite complicated” and “hot everywhere”.

The counteroffensive, which got underway last month, has been slow and gruelling — though military analysts say that the campaign is still in its early stages and that Ukraine has yet to commit the bulk of its forces.

Ukrainian officials — along with Kyiv’s western allies, which provided sophisticated new weapons and training for the counteroffensive — have defended the pace of advances while cautioning that the campaign will be long and bloody.

On Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine acknowledged that “last week was difficult” on the front lines, but emphasised that “progress” was being made.

“We are moving forward, step by step,” he said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

New York Times News Service