Ukrainian Defense Authority Calls Fighting in Eastern Territory Rising

JAKARTA - Fighting in eastern Ukraine has escalated as Ukrainian and Russian troops clashed in at least three areas on the eastern front, a senior Ukrainian defense official said Sunday.

Separately, the Ukrainian military indicated it had taken over several villages southeast of the Donetsk region, near a series of small settlements that Ukraine recaptured in June.

"The enemy made an unsuccessful attempt to regain lost positions in the northern part of Staromayorske," the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said in a regular update.

It was the first official acknowledgment of advances on the village since Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in June, aimed at retaking occupied territory and taking the initiative in a full-scale Russian invasion now 17 months old.

Meanwhile, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram that Russian troops had been invading towards Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region for two consecutive days.

"We are in a defensive position," wrote Maliar.

"There was fierce fighting. The positions of the two sides changed dynamically several times a day," he said.

Maliar also said the two armies exchanged blows around the destroyed town of Bakhmut, but that Ukrainian troops were "gradually advancing" along its southern flank.

He added that Kyiv troops also repelled Russian attacks near Avdiivka and Maryinka.

Separately, a spokesman for the southern military command said in a statement that Ukrainian troops had advanced more than one kilometer (0.6 miles) on a section of the southern front.

It is known that Kyiv has made additional gains in parts of the east and south since launching a counteroffensive against Russia to retake the occupied territories.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with state television, part of which was broadcast on Sunday, that the operation had been unsuccessful and attempts to penetrate Russian defenses had failed.