World

Ukrainian troops advance in Zaporizhzhia region

By AAP Newswire

Oct 13, 2025

Ukrainian recruits at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region — Ukraine forces are making gains in Zaporizhzhia region, the president says. -AP

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says a Ukrainian counteroffensive has made gains in southern Zaporizhzhia region as well as in Donetsk region, which is the focal point of the conflict and where Kyiv has been reporting successes.

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Kyiv has said for several weeks that its forces have advanced around the town of Dobropillia near the logistical hub of Pokrovsk, one of the key targets of Russian troops advancing slowly westward through Donetsk region.

In his nightly video address on Sunday, Zelenskiy said Kyiv's forces had made gains of more than three kilometres further south in Zaporizhzhia region.

"At this time, Ukrainian units are continuing our counteroffensive actions near Dobropillia, but also in other sectors - particularly in Zaporizhzhia region near Orikhiv," he said.

"There, our forces have advanced - today more than 3 km."

The Ukrainian military's 24th Separate Assault Battalion posted on the Telegram messaging app that, together with another unit, it had brought under control Mali Shcherbaky, a village between Orikhiv and the Dnipro River.

A Russian Defence Ministry report made no reference to Ukrainian advances or whether Mali Shcherbaky had changed hands.

But it said Moscow's troops had hit Ukrainian troops and equipment in Zaporizhzhia region, including in the village of Novoandriivka, near both Mali Shcherbaky and Orikhiv.

The governor of Zaporizhzhia region said one man was killed and three were wounded in Russian shelling of an area just outside Orikhiv.

The governor of Dnipropetrovsk region to the northwest said two people were killed in a Russian attack on a town outside the region's main city, Dnipro.

Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports from either side.

Ukraine and Russia have in the past week issued conflicting accounts of the situation along the front line in the more than three-and-a-half-year war, estimated by Ukraine's top commander to stretch for 1250km.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told senior officers last week that Moscow's forces had captured 5000sq/km of territory this year and have held the strategic advantage through all sectors of the front line.

Zelenskiy, a day later, said Ukrainian forces were inflicting heavy losses on Russian troops near Dobropillia and were "defending ourselves along all other directions".