According to General Oleksander Tarnavskyi, Russian forces had lost the equivalent of hundreds of men in just 24 hours.
Ukraine claimed to have caught occupying Russian troops “in a trap” in the damaged eastern city of Bakhmut, where its forces have been gaining territory as part of a counter-offensive.
According to Russian reports, Moscow’s military repulsed or contained Ukrainian advances in the east and south.
Ukraine’s counter-offensive, which began early last month, has concentrated on taking clusters of villages in the southeast and closing in on Russian forces holding Bakhmut after more than 500 days of the invasion.
On Monday, officials acknowledged advancements in both sectors.
“Bakhmut. “The enemy is caught in a trap,” Ukraine’s ground forces commander, general Oleksander Syrskyi, declared frankly on the Telegram messaging app. “The city is under (our) defence forces’ fire control…the enemy is being pushed out of their positions.”