Ukraine stated on Monday that its forces have liberated the Robotyne area in the southeast of the country and are attempting to advance southward in their counteroffensive against Russian troops. The army announced last week that its forces had raised the national flag in Robotyne, but operations for clearing the area are still ongoing. A commander of the Ukrainian forces that entered Robotyne told Reuters last week that the troops believe they have breached the toughest line of Russian defenses in the south and will begin advancing more rapidly now. According to a report from the Ukrainian army, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said, "We have liberated Robotyne."
The area is located about ten kilometers south of the town of Orikhiv, which is on the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region along an important route leading to the Russian-occupied Tokmak transport hub. Gaining control over Tokmak would be a significant milestone as Ukrainian forces advance southward towards the Sea of Azov in a military campaign aimed at dividing Russian forces following their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Malyar stated on Ukrainian television that the troops, which began their counteroffensive in early June, are now moving southeast from Robotyne and towards the nearby southern area of Mala Tokmashka.
Ukraine’s success in reclaiming Robotyne, which has not been confirmed by Russia, follows media reports of a meeting earlier this month between senior military leaders of NATO and Ukraine's top military commander regarding the restructuring of Ukraine’s military strategy.
**Eastern Front**
Ukrainian forces are also battling Russian troops in the east of the country, with progress in the counteroffensive being slower than widely anticipated, as they face extensive Russian minefields and trenches. Malyar described the situation on the battlefield last week in the east as "very hot." She noted that Russian forces are gathering new troops there and reorganizing, with Moscow aiming to deploy its best units to the region.
Additionally, Ukrainian forces have continued their advance south of Bakhmut, the semi-destroyed city in the east that was captured by Russian troops in May after months of fierce fighting. She mentioned that Ukrainian forces had regained one square kilometer around Bakhmut last week, and that Russian troops had made no advances.
In the latest of the repeated Russian airstrikes on Ukraine, a local governor reported that two people were killed overnight in an attack on a vegetable oil factory in the Poltava region in central Ukraine. Russia announced it had shot down a Ukrainian drone heading towards Moscow in the early hours of Monday, an incident that again disrupted flights over the capital temporarily. Reuters was unable to confirm the situation on the battlefield.
