UKRaine Claims Advance in East and South, Gains Near Bakhmut; UKR Forces Advance in Two Directions in Zaporizhzhia Oblast; UKR Army Successfully Advances in Donbas; RUssia Says Cruise Missile Launched On Crimea, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

Ukraine claims advance in east and south, gains near Bakhmut:

Ukraine said on Monday its troops were advancing in the east and south of the country, and signalled they were tightening the noose around Russian troops occupying the eastern city of Bakhmut.

Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Kyiv’s troops had taken back 10.2 square km (3.9 sq miles) of territory in the south and four sq km in the east in the past week of a counteroffensive against Russian forces.

Ukraine’s forces had also taken control of the main commanding heights around Bakhmut and established fire control over entrances and exits to the shattered city, she said on the Telegram messaging app.

The Ukrainian military said its troops had now retaken 169 sq km on the southern front, and 24 sq km around Bakhmut since the counteroffensive began early last month.

“All of us, we want to do it faster because every day means new losses of Ukrainians. We are advancing. We are not stuck,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told U.S. television network ABC ahead of a NATO summit in Lithuania on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“We would all love to see the counteroffensive accomplished in a shorter period of time. But there is reality. Today, the initiative is on our side.” —>READ MORE HERE

General Staff: Ukrainian forces advance in two directions in Zaporizhzhia Oblast:

Ukrainian forces have continued their counteroffensive and advanced in the Melitopol and Berdyansk directions in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the General Staff reported on July 9.

During the day, the Russian army carried out 27 airstrikes and 37 attacks with multiple rocket launchers, “injuring civilians and destroying residential buildings, as well as civilian infrastructure.”

In total, Russia shelled about 20 Ukrainian-controlled settlements in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts.

According to the report, Russian troops mainly concentrated on attacking the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Marinka directions in Donetsk Oblast.

In the Avdiivka direction, Russian troops shelled more than 10 settlements with artillery. The Russians shelled more than 40 settlements in three other directions in Donetsk Oblast, the report reads. —>READ MORE HERE

Follow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:

+++++Russia-Ukraine News LATEST UPDATES: (REUTERS) (AP) (NY POST) and (WSJ)+++++

+++++Ukrainian Army successfully advances in Donbas, General Syrskyi says +++++

+++++Russia Says Cruise Missile Launched On Crimea As War Reaches 500 Days+++++

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