RIGHT SPEAK: UKRaine Claims 8 Villages Have Been Retaken From RUssian Forces in 2 Weeks; New Gains in the South, ‘difficult situation' in the East; Why UKR’s Offensive Will Likely Be a Slow, Costly Grind; UKR Defenders Repelled Attacks on 4 Fronts and Struck 6 Areas of Occupiers' Concentration, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

NY POST: Ukraine claims 8 villages have been retaken from Russian forces in 2 weeks:

Ukraine said on Monday it has reclaimed a new village from Russia — its eighth over the course of two weeks of “offensive operations.”

Kyiv’s soldiers held up yellow and blue national flags in a video, which claimed they were in Piatykhatky, a village en route to one of the most heavily fortified Russian positions in the south.

“The forces of 128 assault brigade chased out the Russians from the village of Piatykhatky. The Russians ran away leaving equipment and ammunition. Glory to Ukraine!” an unidentified soldier said.

Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official, also said Sunday that Ukraine had taken control of the village of Piatykhatky in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

Rogov later said Moscow pushed them out — but by Monday morning Ukraine was attacking again.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar on Monday refuted the claim that Moscow had pushed Ukrainian forces out, asserting that Ukraine had not only taken back Piatykhatky but advanced over four miles into Russian lines in two weeks.

Ukrainian forces have reclaimed an area of about 44 square miles in the south, Maliar said.

“In the course of two weeks of offensive operations in the Berdiansk and Melitopol directions, eight settlements were liberated,” Maliar said on Telegram, referring to two significant cities on the Russian-held coastline. ===>READ MORE HERE

Photo by Wojciech Grzedzinski/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Ukraine war latest: Defense Ministry reports new gains in the south, ‘difficult situation' in the east:

Ukraine confirmed the liberation of Piatykhatky village in Zaporizhzhia Oblast on June 19, bringing the total number of liberated settlements since the start of the ongoing counteroffensive to eight.

The announcement comes after Russian-installed proxy in Zaporizhzhia Oblast Vladimir Rogov said that Ukrainian troops took the village on June 18, but Russia's Defense Ministry later denied it.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram on June 19 that Ukrainian forces have so far liberated Novodarivka, Levadne, Storozheve, Makarivka, Blahodatne, Lobkove, Neskuchne, and Piatykhatky, recapturing an area of 113 square kilometers.

According to her, Ukrainian forces have advanced up to seven kilometers in the south.

Also on June 19, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported that Russia had begun relocating its forces from the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast to strengthen the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut sectors.

Later in the same day, Maliar said that Russia had deployed more troops to Ukraine's eastern front line, trying to advance toward Lyman and Kupiansk and “seize the initiative.”

According to her, Russia has concentrated "a significant number" of its troops in Ukraine's east and hasn’t abandoned its plans to seize the entirety of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which is currently "the main offensive area" of the Russian troops.

Ukrainian forces "do not allow the enemy to advance" amid the difficult situation in the region, intensified Russian shelling and heavy fighting, Maliar said. --->READ MORE HERE