Ukraine repels Russian attacks in east; counterattack continues in south

The Ukranian military claimed Saturday it took out 25 Russian tanks and 37 armored vehicles in a single day of fighting in the eastern and southern parts of the country.

The tallies came as Russian forces overnight pressed their stalled advance in the country’s industrial east, while also trying to hold on to areas captured in Ukraine’s northeast and south, including in the Kherson region where Kyiv recently launched a counteroffensive.

Ukrainian forces said they repelled around a half-dozen Russian attacks across the Donetsk region. Donetsk is one of two provinces in Ukraine’s industrial heartland that are the main targets for Russian troops. Neighboring Luhanzk was overrun in July.

Since the start of the war, Ukrainian forces claim to have destroyed nearly 700 Russian tanks and more than 4,400 armored combat vehicles, along with a host of other military equipment.

The British Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian forces were also conducting “renewed offensive operations” in the south of Ukraine. The update said Ukrainian troops were advancing along a broad front west of the Dnieper River, “focusing on three axes within the Russian-occupied Kherson region.”

“The operation has limited immediate objectives, but Ukraine’s forces have likely achieved a degree of tactical surprise; exploiting poor logistics, administration and leadership in the Russian armed forces,” the U.K. defense ministry said, noting Russian commanders will have to decide in coming days “where to commit any operational reserve force they can generate.”

Russian shelling killed an 8-year-old child and wounded at least four others in a southern Ukrainian town close to the Kherson region, Ukrainian officials said.