Ukraine says its counterattack has been successful so far given its lack of air power and limited resources
Ukraine continues to make incremental advances and claims to be eroding the ability of invading Russian forces to fight back.
Ukrainian forces recaptured 28.4 square kilometres (11 square miles) of territory in the previous week, bringing the counteroffensive’s total gains to 158sq km (61sq miles), said Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar.
The Ukrainian army was “advancing steadily, deliberately working its way through very difficult minefields … 500 metres a day, 1,000 metres a day, 2,000 metres a day, that kind of thing,” Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told the National Press Club in Washington on June 30.
He estimated the counteroffensive could take as many as 10 weeks.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said his forces destroyed 2,500 pieces of Ukrainian equipment since the counteroffensive began on June 4.
Al Jazeera could not verify either Russian or Ukrainian figures, but Ukrainian officials insisted that territorial gains were not the priority at this stage.
