Kiev, 24 July 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Ukrainian troops have recaptured 227 square kilometres of land from Russia in a counteroffensive launched a few weeks ago, according to Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar.

She said Kiev's forces took back 192 square kilometres of territory on the southern sections of the front. Of this, 12 square kilometres had been liberated within the past week.

In the section around the city of Bakhmut, now controlled by Russian forces, Ukraine recaptured a total of 35 square kilometres.

Last week, Ukraine regained 4 square kilometres in the eastern Donetsk region. The information cannot be independently verified.

Russia launched its war against Ukraine in February 2022. Ukrainian military observers say the Kremlin's troops still control more than 100,000 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean peninsula annexed illegally in 2014.