Ukraine-Russia war – latest: Moscow claims it repelled fresh offensives as Kyiv liberates four villages

Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday it had repelled attempted offensives by Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions and had hit targets with sea-launched high-precision missile strikes. Russia said its forces had launched a strike on Ukrainian army reserve locations using long-range precision weaponry, launched from the sea. Ukraine said on Monday its troops had recaptured a fourth village from Russian forces in a cluster of settlements in the southeast, a day after reporting the first small gains of its long-anticipated counteroffensive. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar posted a photo showing soldiers hoisting the Ukrainian flag at what she said was the village of Storozheve in Donetsk, and thanked the 35th Separate Brigade of Marines for liberating it. Reuters confirmed the location of the footage. Kyiv also said on Sunday that its forces had liberated three villages - Blahodatne, Neskuchne and Makarivka. The long-expected counteroffensive was indirectly confirmed by Vladimir Putin on Friday, who said that a Ukrainian military push was underway, but had failed to breach Russian defensive lines and taken heavy casualties. Read More Mapped: Ukraine claims four villages captured in first gains of counteroffensive Ukraine's dam collapse is both a fast-moving disaster and a slow-moving ecological catastrophe Musician Travis Leake spoke up about freedom of speech in Russia with Anthony Bourdain in 2014. Now he’s been detained