President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukrainian forces have been conducting a successful counteroffensive operation on the Donetsk front "in recent weeks".

Source: Zelenskyy in a video address on social media

Quote: "We have been carrying out one of our counteroffensive operations in recent weeks. The guys are doing great. On the Donetsk front, in the areas of Pokrovsk and Dobropillia. The fighting is fierce, but we have managed to inflict significant losses on the Russians."

Details: The president said that Ukrainian defence forces are depriving the Russians of the ability to launch a full-scale offensive operation on this front, which they had long been preparing for.

Zelenskyy reported that since the beginning of this counteroffensive, Ukrainian forces have already liberated 160 sq km of Ukrainian territory and seven settlements, and another 170 sq km and nine settlements have been "cleared of the occupiers".

He added that Ukraine has also significantly replenished its prisoner-of-war exchange pool – there are already nearly 100 Russian prisoners of war, "and there will be more".

The president noted that Russian losses in the Pokrovsk area alone in recent weeks amounted to more than 2,500 personnel, of whom over 1,300 had been killed.

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