Ukrainian forces were on Monday said to have recaptured towns along the west bank of the Dnieper River in southern Ukraine near the city of Kherson. Moscow's troops have yielded land that Russia claims to have annexed along a second major front. The news comes days after Ukrainian forces took the key logistics hub of Lyman — Kyiv's most significant battlefield gain in weeks.

While there has been official confirmation of the gains from Kyiv, Russian sources acknowledged that a Ukrainian tank offensive had penetrated dozens of kilometers along the river's west bank. Several villages along the way were said to have been recaptured. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that "with superior tank units in the direction of Zolotaya Balka, Aleksandrovka, the enemy managed to penetrate into the depths of our defense." However, he added that Russian troops "have occupied a pre-prepared defensive line and continue to inflict massive fire damage" on the Ukrainian forces. "The information is tense, let's put it that way, because, yes there were indeed breakthroughs," Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed leader in Kherson province told Russian state television. "There's a settlement called Dudchany, right along the Dnieper River, and right there, in that region, there was a breakthrough. There are settlements that are occupied by Ukrainian forces," he said.