Ukraine-Russia war – latest: Kyiv says it has liberated first village in counter-offensive action

Ukraine’s military has claimed to have recaptured their first village since launching counter-offensive actions against Russia. Ukrainian soldiers were filmed hoisting their blue and yellow flag at a damaged building in what the army said was the village of Blahodatne, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region in the southeast of the country. The unverified video was published by the 68th Separate Hunting Brigade of the Armed Forces. It comes after president Volodymyr Zelensky said that counter-offensive and defensive actions are under way against Russian forces in an apparent confirmation of the long-awaited pushback of Putin’s troops. The Russian Defence Ministry has continued to insist that it is repelling Ukrainian attacks in the Donetsk region. It said in a statement that Ukrainian attempts at offensive operations on the southern Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia axes of the frontline over the past 24 hours have been “unsuccesful”. Read More Ukraine goes on attack in Zaporizhzhia – as counteroffensive steps up Ukraine tells ‘clown’ Tucker Carlson to check his facts after pro-Kremlin rant in first Twitter show Before-and-after satellite images show profound toll of Ukraine dam collapse