MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - Ukraine claims to have liberated four villages in the Donestk region.
Reports quoting Ukrainian defense and military officials said their forces have recaptured the frontline villages of Blahodatne, Makarivka, Neskuchne and Storozhove.
However, Russia hasn't yet confirmed if its forces have retreated from the relatively small villages.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the weekend that Ukraine's long-awaited counter-offensive has started.
Ukrainian forces had begun advancing in the country's south a week ago.
Russia has reportedly blown up another dam in the Russian-controlled region in the southeast along the border between Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia.
Intense fighting is going on between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the region, reports say.
Russia is on the defensive, according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The two sides exchanged nearly 200 prisoners of war Sunday, according to officials in Moscow and Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Dutch open-source intelligence website Oryx reported that Ukraine has lost 16 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, supplied by the United States, in the past few days.
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