Ukraine’s military said on Monday that its forces had retaken the small village of Robotyne, a sign that the troops waging Kyiv’s counteroffensive are pushing through Russia’s initial defences on the southern front line.

“Robotyne has been liberated,” Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, Hanna Malyar, said. She told the Military Media Center, a media platform for Ukraine’s ministry of defence, that Ukrainian forces were now advancing southeast despite “fierce resistance” from Russian forces.

While Ukraine’s claim could not be independently confirmed, and there was no immediate comment from Russia’s ministry of defence, the Ukrainian military had said that its forces entered the village last week and were pushing through it.

One goal of the counteroffensive Kyiv launched in June is to reach the Sea of Azov and drive a wedge through Russian-occupied territory in southern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s military has said that its forces are pushing along two lines of attack, driving towards the cities of Melitopol and Berdiansk.

Robotyne lies along the line towards Melitopol, and is where Ukrainian forces have been held up for weeks by dug-in Russian forces.

While Robotyne is tiny, its recapture could help boost the Ukrainian public’s morale after two months of grinding fighting that has produced few quantifiable gains.

It is the first settlement Ukraine has claimed to retake since Urozhaine, also in
the south, nearly two weeks ago.

New York Times News Service