Forces yesterday launched a huge offensive in the southern Kherson region, seized early in the invasion.
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Footage later emerged of a Russian tank exploding in Kharkiv in the north.
The push is part of a long-awaited fightback being launched by chiefs in Kyiv in an attempt to retake the south of the country.
It follows weeks of Ukrainian attacks aimed at cutting off Russian forces there from main supply routes.
Ukraine’s Hromadske TV said three of its sources in Ukraine’s military confirmed that the first line of defence had been broken in the area.
Southern Command spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk announced the offensive in a news briefing and said it included the Kherson region.
She said Ukraine had struck more than 10 ammunition storage bases in the past week, and they had “unquestionably weakened the enemy”.
She declined to give exact details of the counter-offensive, saying Russian forcesin southern Ukraine remained “rather powerful”.
She added: “The counter-offensive is already ongoing for a while (in the sense of) exhausting the enemy and not giving him an opportunity to advance,” Ms Humeniuk told Suspilne, adding that the offensive phase of this had begun on Monday.”
She added that “any military operation requires ‘silence’ regime”, urging Ukrainians to be patient.
She said: “Our main efforts have been focused on destroying the enemy’s ammunition storage bases. More than 10 of such bases were destroyed over the past week.”
In a telegram post the Ukrainian military said yesterday it had struck multiple targets in the region, including a factory in Beryslav and a Russian army post by the North Crimean Canal.
Kyiv officials claim to have used US-supplied Himars rocket systems to destroy three bridges crossing the Dnipro River, strikes it said would cut the Russian forces occupying Kherson off from weapons and troop reinforcements.
According to Western military sources, Kyiv’s strikes on the river crossings are part of a targeted effort to isolate Russian troops on the right (Western) bank of the river with the ultimate goal of recapturing the entire Kherson region.
Moscow relied on the bridges to resupply their troops stationed west of the Dnipro river, who are now at risk of becoming isolated from the rest of Russia’s occupying forces.
Russian outlets also reported on Monday that Ukraine had struck targets in the Kherson region – but reported that the strikes had focused on civilian infrastructure.
Moscow-appointed regional official Vladimir Leontyev claimed onMonday that Ukrainian forces had shelled a hydropower plant and floodway in the Kherson city of Novaya Kakhovka, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
Its forces also claimed to have shot down three ballistic missiles and 21 rockets reportedly fired by Ukrainian forces.
Russia captured the city of Kherson and its surrounding region with relatively little resistance in the early days of the invasion.
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