Ukraine says it has recaptured the village of Staromaiorske in the occupied Donetsk region.
A Ukrainian official tweeted a video of troops holding a flag in the settlement, located about halfway between Mariupol and Zaporizhzhia in the country's southeast.
"The 35th brigade and the 'Ariy' territorial defence unit have fulfilled their task and liberated the village of Staromaiorske. Glory to Ukraine!" said a soldier in the video.
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Staromaiorske lies to the south of a number of small settlements that Ukraine has recaptured during its counteroffensive, which began in June.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy had hinted at a significant win on the frontline last night.
"By the way, today our boys had very good results at the front," he said in his nightly video address on Wednesday.
"Good for them! Details will follow."
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President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Ukrainian attacks in the southeast of the country - which Russia largely controls - had intensified.
Ukraine has been relatively tight-lipped about its counteroffensive, but Mr Zelenskyy has conceded progress has been slower than hoped.
Meanwhile, conditions around Robotyne settlement - about 110km (68 miles) west of Staromaiorske - give "important colour" to speculation about the counteroffensive, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
It said geolocated footage showed a tank and two Ukrainian infantry fighting vehicles and a T-72 tank either disabled or abandoned about 2.5km (1.5 miles) east of the village.
It added: "This geolocated point is beyond the forward-most pre-prepared Russian defensive fortifications in this area, indicating that Ukrainian forces managed to penetrate and drive through tactically challenging defensive positions.
"This kind of penetration battle will be one of the most difficult things for Ukrainian forces to accomplish in pursuit of deeper penetration."
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Anonymous officials at the US Pentagon, reported in The New York Times, suggested the attacks marked an inflection point in Ukraine's counteroffensive.
The Western officials said it was an opportune moment given recent operations to clear Russian defensive positions, Russian command changes and continued Ukrainian artillery strikes.
Ukraine does not routinely comment on the counteroffensive or its objectives, but there has been speculation that it could seek to drive its forces south to the Sea of Azov.
While undoubtedly very challenging, this could have the effect of cutting Russian forces in two and - crucially - cutting off the land bridge to Crimea.
Rational_dummy on July 27th, 2023 at 13:17 UTC »
From ISW yesterday:
Ukrainian forces launched a significant mechanized counteroffensive operation in western Zaporizhia Oblast on July 26 and appear to have broken through certain pre-prepared Russian defensive positions south of Orikhiv. Russian sources, including the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) and several prominent milbloggers, claimed that Ukrainian forces launched an intense frontal assault towards Robotyne (10km south of Orikhiv) and broke through Russian defensive positions northeast of the settlement.[1] Geolocated footage indicates that Ukrainian forces likely advanced to within 2.5km directly east of Robotyne during the attack before Russian forces employed standard doctrinal elastic defense tactics and pushed Ukrainian troops back somewhat, although not all the way back to their starting positions.[2]
GI_Bill_Trap_Lord on July 27th, 2023 at 13:04 UTC »
This unfortunately also means you’re going to see a lot of footage coming out of Ukrainian losses. The fighting in this area is horrific right now. Every assault costs multiple vehicles due to hits from ATGMs and Russian kamikaze drones. This is the toughest defensive position Ukraine has faced this far and it only gets harder from here on out.
These heroes have balls of steel and I wish them the best. I hope they free their country.
B0g_M0nster on July 27th, 2023 at 11:35 UTC »
Splendid news if true