Ukraine Says Urozhaine 'Liberated' in Major Counteroffensive Win

Ukraine has taken control of the contested Donetsk settlement of Urozhaine, Kyiv said on Wednesday, which would be Ukraine's first concrete gain of its counteroffensive in weeks if confirmed.

Ukraine Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukraine had "liberated" Urozhaine, adding via a statement on Telegram that Kyiv's troops were "entrenched on the outskirts."

Intense clashes have engulfed the Donetsk town, close to the region's border with the annexed southern Zaporizhzhia region, in recent days. Heavy fighting was reported in both Urozhaine and the neighboring village of Staromaiorske.

Ukraine has made creeping gains in recent weeks in its now two-and-a-half-month-old counteroffensive but has not reported a decisive victory since it claimed a string of villages from Russian forces in mid-June. Progress for Kyiv along the southern and eastern front lines has been slow and bloody, though Western analysts have remain optimistic about Ukraine's performance against the Kremlin's dug-in defenses.

Urozhaine, like the Zaporizhzhia village of Robotyne, is not particularly important in terms of strategic gains, "but both are part of the deep Russian defensive zones," Frederik Mertens, a strategic analyst with the Hague Centre for Security Studies (HCSS) told Newsweek. "In such fighting, each village you take is another step and you hope this results in a breakthrough."

"The battle in Urozhaine does not represent a new event but success from a constant and bloody attack," added Glen Grant, former British Army officer, now based with the Baltic Security Foundation in Riga, Latvia.

Newsweek could not independently verify battlefield claims, and at the time of writing, the Russian Defense Ministry had not publicly commented on Ukraine's reported gain. The Russian government has been contacted for comment via email. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said on Tuesday it had not had visual confirmation of Moscow's complete withdrawal from the settlement.

However, Russian military bloggers have suggested Russian forces were retreating from the settlement earlier this week. On Tuesday, Rybar, a prominent Russian Telegram channel thought to be run by an ex-Russian Defense Ministry employee, said the village had become "a gray zone" after the withdrawal of Russian troops. Russian artillery and aviation strikes on Ukrainian positions were continuing from the south of Urozhaine, the account said.

But Russian-backed sources typically describe Ukrainian-held territory as a "gray zone" to downplay the scale of Russian losses, the ISW think tank said on Tuesday. Russian forces have likely "largely withdrawn from the core of the settlement to positions on its outskirts," but Kyiv's fighters probably have not yet established full control of the center and southern parts of Urozhaine, "where limited skirmishes for control are likely ongoing," the ISW added.

Also on Tuesday, the commander of pro-Russian Vostok battalion, Alexander Khodakovsky, publicly wrote on Telegram that the Donetsk town "resembled a meat grinder," and Russian forces "lacked infantry and equipment, but...had enough means of destruction to grind up a significant part of what the enemy threw at the capture of the village."

"We lost Urozhaine," he added.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that the Vostok troops, along with artillery and aviation units, had fired on Ukrainian troops around Urozhaine. Moscow's fighters destroyed more than two dozen Ukrainian combat positions, the ministry said, taking out an armored combat vehicle and an armored personnel carrier.

In an operational update published on Wednesday morning, Kyiv's General Staff said Ukraine was carrying out counterbattery resistance measures in Urozhaine, and strengthening its positions. Russian forces made "unsuccessful attempts to restore the lost position" in Urozhaine, the General Staff added.

But in the face of Ukrainian gains in Russia's defensive zone, Kyiv could be coming up against a new wave of Russian counterattacks, Mertens said.

"If you slowly break through the defensive zone of an opponent, you can be certain that he will reinforce that zone, will launch tactical counterattacks and might even set up a nasty operational surprise for you," Mertens predicted. Ukraine looks to be trying to force Moscow to use up its reserves through "continuous pressure on key points," he added.