Ukraine prepares 'biggest blow' as it claims recapture of eight villages from Russia

FILE PHOTO: A view shows a residential building destroyed in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 14, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Pavel Klimov/File Photo

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine said on Monday it had driven Russian forces out of an eighth village in its two-week-old counteroffensive and a defence official vowed Kyiv's "biggest blow" lay ahead despite tough resistance from Moscow's troops.

Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces had retaken Piatykhatky, a settlement on a heavily fortified part of the front line near the most direct route to the country's Azov Sea coast.