Ukraine launches long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia

The Ukrainian military’s long-anticipated counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces has begun, opening a phase in the war aimed at restoring Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty and retaining Western support in the war, four members of Ukraine’s armed forces said.

Ukraine’s troops intensified their attacks on the front line in the country’s southeast, the four sources told the Washington Post.

The Ukrainian troops include specialized attack units armed with Western weapons and trained in NATO tactics. The attacks on the country’s southeast mark a significant push into Russian-occupied territory.

Russian military bloggers also reported heavy fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region, a part of the front line that has long been seen as a likely location of the new Ukrainian campaign. By cutting south through the flat fields of Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv’s forces could aim to sever the so-called land bridge between mainland Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula, cutting off crucial Russian supply lines. It could also attempt to liberate the city of Melitopol, which Russia has established as the region’s occupied capital, and Enerhodar, where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located.