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Ukraine Claims Gains In East, South As 'Fierce Battles' Continue Near Bakhmut

Ukrainian forces have regained more territory from the invading Russian forces in the eastern and southern fronts, Kyiv said on September 11, as German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made a surprise visit to the capital, promising unwavering support for Ukraine.

"In the direction of Bakhmut, the defense forces have partial success in the Klishchiyivka area of the Donetsk region, they dislodge the enemy from their occupied positions…. Fierce battles continue," the General Staff of the Armed Forces reported in its daily bulletin on September 11.

The military said that more than 30 clashes between the Ukrainian forces and the invading Russian troops took place in the previous day.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said Ukraine’s forces had recaptured nearly 2 square kilometers of land -- including part of the village of Opytne in the Donetsk region -- over the past week.

She also reported some "success" near the villages of Novomayorske, Andriyivka, and Klishchiyivka in the east.

Kyiv's troops have retaken 49 square kilometers near Bakhmut since Ukraine launched its counteroffensive in June, Malyar told Ukrainian television on September 11.

Malyar claimed Kyiv had recaptured 1.5 square kilometers in the south, where Ukrainian troops are trying to advance toward the Sea of Azov. She also reported some progress near the rural settlements of Robotyne and Verbove in the Zaporizhzhya region.

Kyiv also announced on September 11 that its forces had retaken the "Boyko Towers" oil- and gas-drilling platforms in the Black Sea that had been controlled by Russia since 2015.

The platforms are located roughly halfway between the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula and the coast of Ukraine's southwestern Odesa region.

"During one phase of the operation [to recapture the platform], a battle took place between Ukrainian special forces on boats and a Russian Su-30 fighter jet," Kyiv's military intelligence said.

Moscow's plane was "hit and forced to retreat," it claimed.

Crimea and much of the surrounding waters were illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Russia claimed to have annexed Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, and two other Ukrainian regions in September last year, despite not having full military control over the regions.

Russia’s election authorities said the pro-Kremlin United Russia party won local elections in those regions over the weekend, in polls denounced by Kyiv and the West as a sham and a breach of international law.

Baerbock announced that Germany will provide an additional $21.4 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, which would bring Germany’s total to $407.6 million this year.

The German Foreign Ministry also said Berlin wants to help Ukraine, which applied last year for EU membership, make progress in strengthening the rule of law, fighting corruption, and aligning itself with EU standards.

Ukraine can "rely on us and on our understanding of EU enlargement as a necessary geopolitical consequence of Russia's war," she said upon arrival in Kyiv for her fourth visit since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Baerbock said Ukraine has achieved impressive results on judicial reform and media legislation. But it still has a long way to go in the implementation of the anti-oligarch law and the fight against corruption, she added.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa

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Key Words: Ukraine, Russia, Russo-Ukrainian War, Counteroffensive, Zaporizhzhya