General Staff reports further positions gained on southern front

Ukrainian forces have achieved partial success in at least two directions on the southern front and made new gains, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on June 23.

Ukrainian troops have advanced in the directions of Novodanylivka-Robotyne and Mala Tokmachka-Novofedorivka using artillery support, the General Staff added.

According to the report, Russian forces are deploying reserves to prevent Ukraine’s advances in the Orikhiv direction and try to regain previously lost positions.

In the east, Ukrainian forces are holding back Russian advances at the Lyman, Avdiivka, and Mariinka directions, the General Staff reported. The military reported the heaviest battles at Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast and at Sieverne, Avdiivka, Mariinka, and Pobieda in Donetsk Oblast.

Also on June 23, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram that Russian offensives in the Kupiansk and Lyman directions had been halted.

Ukraine has been conducting a counter-offensive in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts since June 5, having had limited success so far, with eight settlements reclaimed from Russian control.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that, though Ukraine's summer counteroffensive may seem slow now, it will pick up the pace, just like the operations in the fall.

Ukraine war latest: Military keeps advancing south, Zelensky says offensive ‘slower than desired’ but not ‘a movie’

Key developments on June 21: * Ukrainian forces report further advance in the south * Germany delivers Patriot missile system to Ukraine * Russia fortifies defense lines in Crimea, creates branch of Black Sea Fleet in occupied Mariupol * Russian forces attack 10 regions, kill 4 people on June 2…

The Kyiv IndependentAlexander Query