A commander fighting on the frontline in the south of the country said his troops were now making more rapid progress.
“We don’t stop here,” said the military leader, who uses the callsign “Skala,” eponymous with the battalion which he leads.
He said his forces had now broken through Russian frontline forces into the village of Robotyne and were still moving forward.
He added: “Next we have (the town of) Berdiansk, and then more. I made it clear to my fighters at once: our goal is not Robotyne, our goal is (the Sea of) Azov.”
Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in June, but well-prepared Russian defence lines reinforced by minefields have slowed their southward advance towards the Sea of Azov.
Ukrainian forces said they had now raised the national flag in Robotyne in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, about 10 km (six miles) south of the frontline town of Orikhiv.
Robotyne is also about 100 km from Berdiansk, a port on the shores of the Sea of Azov, and 85 km from the strategic city of Melitopol.
Both are occupied by Russian forces following Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February last year.
“We have passed the main roads that were mined. We are coming to those lines where we can go (forward). I’m sure we’ll go faster from here,” Skala said.
He added that just two houses were still under Russian control in Robotyne.
“We’re fighting for them, and then we’ll have full control (of Robotyne),” he said.
