Ukraine’s counteroffensives in the country’s south and northeast are gaining momentum, President Zelenskyy said, retaking territory and pressuring Russian troops. Ukrainian forces have recaptured 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of land, he said in his nightly address.

Over the summer, Ukraine had said it would launch a counteroffensive to retake the southern city of Kherson, but had not mentioned any plans to counterattack in the northeastern Kharkiv region or elsewhere in the east. Analysts say Kyiv could now be taking advantage of Russia’s decision to redeploy troops to southern Ukraine.

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A surge in fighting on the southern front line and a Ukrainian claim of new attacks on Russian positions fed speculation Tuesday that a long-expected counteroffensive has started to try to turn the tide of the war.

But Ukrainian officials warned against excessive optimism in a war that has seen similar expectations of changing fortunes before, and the Russian defense ministry claimed an attempt by Ukraine’s troops to launch an offensive had failed and caused heavy casualties.

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The relevant statement was made by Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Head Oleh Syniehubov on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“During the night, Russians launched massive rocket attacks on Kharkiv. Russian terrorists again targeted peaceful ‘sleeper’ neighborhoods with civilians,” Syniehubov wrote.

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Russian forces began an assault Saturday on two key cities in the eastern Donetsk region and kept up rocket and shelling attacks on other Ukrainian cities, including one close to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Ukraine’s military and local officials said.

Both cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka have been considered key targets of Russia’s ongoing offensive across Ukraine’s east, with analysts saying Moscow needs to take Bakhmut if it is to advance on the regional hubs of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

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Russian forces launched a missile attack on the Kyiv area for the first time in weeks Thursday and pounded the northern Chernihiv region as well, in what Ukraine said was revenge for standing up to the Kremlin.

Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, announced a counteroffensive to take back the occupied Kherson region in the country’s south, territory seized by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces early in the war.

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