CHANGES HEADLINE, SPOT AND LEDE, ADDS NEW STATEMENT ON 'LIBERATED' VILLAGE IN ZAPORIZHZHIA, UPDATES SOURCE FOR VILLAGE IN DONETSK
By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine on Monday claimed that it has retaken control of two villages in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
“The national flag is flying over Storozheve again, and it will be the same with every settlement until we liberate all Ukrainian land," Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said in a statement on Telegram.
In a later statement on Facebook, the Zaporizhzhia Separate Brigade of Territorial Defense claimed that it retook control of the village of Novodarivka.
Over the weekend, Ukraine claimed to have recaptured the villages of Blahodatne, Makarivka, and Neskuchne located in the Donetsk region.
The Russian authorities have not yet commented on the claims.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Saturday that the Ukrainian army is taking “appropriate counteroffensive and defensive actions” against Russia on the front line.