Russian military claims new offensive in southern Ukraine

The Russian military said on Saturday that it made territorial gains in a new offensive in southern Ukraine.
"In the Zaporizhzhya region, more favourable lines and positions were taken through attacks by units of the Eastern Military District," Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow.
According to him, the Russian attacks killed 30 Ukrainians and disabled several military vehicles. The information could not be independently verified.
Earlier, Russian military bloggers had reported on an offensive in the Orikhiv and Huliaipole area, where the first Ukrainian defence lines had supposedly been overrun.
According to the Rybar blog, which is said to be close to the Russian Defence Ministry, several villages were captured in the push. The ministry has not yet officially confirmed this. On Saturday morning, the Ukrainian general staff had only spoken of shelling in the region, but not about a Russian advance.