Ukrainian forces say they have recaptured another village in the eastern region of Donetsk as they intensify counteroffensives in south and east of the country.
The commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, announced on social media on Sunday that his troops retook the village of Klischiivka about six kilometers southwest of the contested city of Bakhmut.
Syrskyi also posted a video showing soldiers raising the Ukraine flag in what is believed to be Klischiivka.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily video address that he would like to pay tribute to ''the soldiers who, step by step, are returning to Ukraine what belongs to it, namely in the area of Bakhmut.'' He added, ''Klischiivka! Well done!"
On Friday, Ukrainian forces announced that they had recaptured the village of Andriivka about 10 kilometers south of Bakhmut.
Military analysts believe that Ukrainian troops have breached Russia's first line of defense.
Britain's defense ministry said in its intelligence update on Sunday, that Russian forces recently have likely reinforced their defenses around Tokmak, an occupied town in southern Ukraine.
The ministry said, "Improvements to the town's defences likely indicate Russia's growing concern about Ukrainian tactical penetrations of the first main defensive line to the north."
A US think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, said in an assessment released on Saturday, that Ukrainian forces ''have likely made a significant tactical breach along a section of the current Russian defense layer in the Robotyne area over the past several weeks that they continue to widen."