The Ukrainian military has said its counteroffensive is going according to plan, but at the same time admitted to a "difficult situation" on the front.
In the south of the country, the Russian occupiers were being met with "fierce resistance," the Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi wrote on Telegram on Monday.
He said the Ukrainians' advance was hampered by fortifications, dense minefields and a "large number of reserves" but that the operation will remain on schedule.
In a video, he also showed himself with Chief of General Staff Serhiy Shaptala at a command centre near the front. With this, Zaluzhnyi probably also countered rumours in Russian state media, which for some time have repeatedly claimed that he was allegedly seriously injured in a missile attack in May.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar reported a "difficult situation" and fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine as well. The Russian military is trying to regain the initiative near Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region and near Lyman in the neighbouring Luhansk region, she said.
Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion for almost 16 months. Almost a fortnight ago, the Ukrainian army launched a long-awaited counteroffensive. Since then, according to Kiev, eight villages and a good 113 square kilometres of territory have been liberated.
