Ukraine claims new gains in early phase of counteroffensive

FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian soldiers stand in front of a building with a Ukrainian flag on it, during an operation that claims to liberate the first village amid a counter-offensive, in a location given as Blahodatne, Donetsk Region, Ukraine, in this screengrab taken from a handout video released on June 11, 2023. 68th Separate Hunting Brigade 'Oleksy Dovbusha'/Handout via REUTERS

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine said on Monday its troops had recaptured seven villages from Russian forces along an approximately 100-km (60-mile) front in the southeast since starting its long-anticipated counteroffensive last week.

The task of ending Russia's occupation of southern and eastern Ukraine is daunting, given Russia's numerical superiority in men, ammunition and air power, and the many months it has had to build deep defensive fortifications, especially in southern Ukraine.