Ukraine has said its forces have recaptured 16 villages in the eastern Donetsk region from Russian troops, with a senior military commander reporting gains of 277 square kilometres in a counteroffensive near the strategic city of Sloviansk.
Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi said on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had liberated three additional villages, bringing the total number of settlements recaptured during the operation to 16.
The counteroffensive, launched by Ukraine’s Third Army Corps and announced last month, aims to push Russian forces back from areas north of Sloviansk, one of the key strongholds anchoring Ukraine’s eastern defences.
Biletskyi said the operation had reclaimed approximately 277 square kilometres (107 square miles) of territory, with the latest fighting taking place about 30 kilometres (19 miles) north of Sloviansk.
“The Kremlin’s plan to seize the Donetsk and Luhansk regions will not be implemented in the foreseeable future,” he said in a video address.
Donetsk and Luhansk make up the Donbas region, an area of eastern Ukraine rich in mineral resources and largely occupied by Russian forces.
Russia has demanded that Ukraine surrender the roughly 20 per cent of Donetsk region still under Kyiv’s control as part of its conditions for ending the war.
The Ukrainian operation, dubbed “Vivaldi”, comes as Kyiv seeks to regain the initiative on the battlefield in the fifth year of the conflict. Ukrainian forces have increasingly relied on technology and new military tactics to counter Russian advances.
Russia regularly announces the capture of settlements along the frontline. However, Reuters said it could not immediately independently verify Ukraine’s latest battlefield claims.
The reported territorial gains also come amid intensified Russian air attacks elsewhere in Ukraine.
Separately, Kyiv accused Elon Musk’s SpaceX of restricting Starlink services on Wednesday, saying the move had disrupted Ukrainian drone operations.
The accusation came as Russian missile strikes damaged power infrastructure, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy criticising what he described as a lack of respect for US President Donald Trump.
The impact of the reported Starlink restrictions and the latest territorial developments remains a key factor in Ukraine’s ongoing military efforts.
