Ukraine said Thursday it had recaptured over 400 square kilometres (155 square miles) in Kherson in less than a week, after Moscow claimed to have annexed the southern region.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine have liberated more than 400 square kilometres of the Kherson region since the beginning of October,” Ukrainian southern army command spokeswoman Natalia Gumeniuk said in a briefing online.
The Russian army meanwhile said “the enemy had been pushed back along the Russian defence line” on this southern front.
It said the Ukrainian troops deployed four tactical battalions and made “repeated attempts to break through our defences” near Dudchany, Sukhanove, Sadok, and Bruskinskoe.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the recapture of the villages of Novovoskresenske, Novogrygorivka, and Petropavlivka in the same region around Kherson.
The Ukrainian army announced its counteroffensive in the south in late August.
After regaining almost full control of the northeastern region of Kharkiv, the Ukrainian forces recently claimed more gains on the eastern and southern fronts.