Ukraine substantially retaking territory, official says

Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi said Monday that Ukraine has reclaimed 40 percent of the territory that Russia has occupied since it invaded last February. Russian forces remain in five regions of Ukraine, he said, occupying about 28 percent of that territory. The fighting is particularly heavy in the Donetsk province, where some of the front lines are mired in trench warfare. Russians on Tuesday mourned 63 men killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on a building in eastern Donetsk. Ukraine says the casualty count from its missile strike may be much higher. 

How is Russia responding? Ukrainian officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan includes increasing bombardments with Iranian-made exploding drones. There is evidence that Russia is planning a prolonged attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The goal is to exhaust Ukraine’s air defense, people, and energy, he said. But Monday, Ukrainian forces shot down more than 80 Iranian-made drones. 

Dig deeper: Read Evgeny Kosykh’s report in WORLD Magazine on who’s fighting Russia’s battles.