Moscow forces are driving into two towns in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, where fighting intensified this week after months of lulls, Russian state media reported Sunday.
Russian stationed official in the region Vladimir Rogov said the offensive was centered on two towns: Orikhiv, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital of the Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia region, and Hulyaipole, further east.
“The front is mobile, mainly in two directions: Orikhiv and Hulyaipole,” Rogov was quoted as saying by the Ria Novosti news agency.
He said there was active fighting in the area, according to the agency.
“The initiative is in our hands.”
In a daily report on Sunday, the Ukrainian army said “more than 15 settlements were affected by artillery fire” in Zaporizhzhia.
Earlier this week, Rogov announced a “local attack” around Orikhiv and said Russian troops had taken control of the village of Lobkove, near the Dnipro river.
He also said this week that fighting had “increased significantly” in the southern region.
On Saturday, the Russian army said its troops carried out “offensive actions” in the Zaporizhzhia region and claimed to have “taken more advantageous lines and positions.”
The front in southern Ukraine is now quieter than in the east, with Moscow withdrawing from the main city of Kherson in November.
Russia claims to have annexed the Zaporizhzhia region along with three other Ukrainian regions, but does not control them all.
While Moscow controls large swathes of the southern part of the region, the main city of Zaporizhzhia and the northern part did not fall to Russian forces.
Russia has vowed to push Ukrainian forces out of them.