Ukraine says village near Bakhmut recaptured

Open this photo in gallery:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday his forces had recaptured an eastern village on the southern flank of Bakhmut, the city that fell into Russian hands in May after months of heavy fighting.

“Today I would like to particularly commend the soldiers who, step by step, are returning to Ukraine what belongs to it, namely in the area of Bakhmut,” Mr. Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the country.

“Ukraine always gets its own back,” his chief of staff Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram.

Mr. Zelensky thanked the successful units, which he said were the 80th airborne assault brigade, the 5th assault brigade, the “glorious 95th” and a national police assault brigade. “Klischiivka,” he said. “Well done.”

Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar shared a video of Ukrainian forces displaying flags including the blue and yellow national flag with ruined buildings and the sound of continuing fighting in the background.

Russia was still trying to regain lost positions despite the village’s liberation, she wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Today we had to fight off enemy attacks all day,” she said.

Meanwhile, two cargo ships arrived in one of Ukraine’s ports over the weekend, using a temporary Black Sea corridor established by Kyiv following Russia’s withdrawal from a wartime agreement designed to ensure safe grain exports from the invaded country’s ports.

Two Palau-flagged bulk carriers, Aroyat and Resilient Africa, docked Saturday at the seaport of Chornomorsk in the southern Odesa region, according to an online statement by the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority. The vessels are the first civilian cargo ships to reach one of the Odesa ports since Russia exited the grain deal.

Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister, said in an online statement Saturday that the two ships will be delivering some 20,000 tons of wheat to countries in Africa and Asia.

For months, Ukraine, whose economy is heavily dependent on farming, was able to safely export its grain from Black Sea ports under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to ensure safe shipments. But Russia withdrew from the deal on July 17, with Kremlin officials arguing their demands for the facilitation of Russian food and fertilizer shipments had not been met.

After the withdrawal, the Russian Defence Ministry said it would regard any vessels in the Black Sea headed to Ukrainian ports as military targets.

Since then, Kyiv has sought to reroute transport through the Danube River, and road and rail links into Europe. But transport costs that way are much higher. Some European countries have balked at the consequential local grain prices, and the Danube ports can’t handle the same volume as seaports.

The interim corridor in the Black Sea, which Kyiv has asked the International Maritime Organization to ratify, was opened on Aug. 10 as United States and Ukrainian officials warned of possible Russian attacks on civilian vessels. Sea mines also make the voyage risky, and ship insurance costs are likely to be high for operators.

Ukrainian officials said the corridor will be primarily used to evacuate ships stuck in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdennyi since the war broke out. Kubrakov said Saturday that five vessels have since used the corridor to leave Ukrainian ports.

After tearing up the grain deal, Russia intensified attacks on the southern Odesa region, targeting its port infrastructure and grain silos with missiles and drones.

On Sunday, Ukraine’s Air Force Command reported another attack overnight in which the Odesa region was the main target. Russian forces fired 10 cruise missiles and six Iranian-made Shahed drones, the statement said. All drones and six missiles were downed, while the rest hit an agricultural facility in the Odesa region.

With reports from Associated Press