Ukraine claims advance on southern frontier near Robotyne

Ukraine said Tuesday that its forces had pushed deeper into Russian defensive lines near the village of Robotyne, a day after claiming control over the village on the southern front.

Kyiv launched a grinding counteroffensive in June after stockpiling Western-supplied weapons and building up assault battalions, but progress has been slow.

Military spokesman Andriy Kovalyov said Ukrainian forces were edging further in the Zaporizhzhia region, which Moscow claims is part of Russia.

"Ukrainian forces had successes in the direction of Novodanylivka to Verbove," he told state media on Tuesday, naming two hamlets in the war-battered region. 

He added that the troops were holding captured territory and attacking Russian artillery.

Ukrainian troops have also been trying to surround the eastern town of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russian forces in May.

The head of the Donetsk region, where Bakhmut is located, on Tuesday played down the Ukrainian push, after Kyiv claimed successes.

"The flanks are being held. The situation there is already stabilising," Denis Pushilin told Russian state media.

Compared to Ukrainian offensives last year in the Kherson and Kharkiv regions, this time Kyiv's forces are crashing into Russian defensive lines of trenches and minefields that are kilometres deep.

But analysts say the capture of Robotyne is evidence that Ukrainian forces can puncture Russian lines as they push south