Heavy fighting is being waged on the front lines in eastern Ukraine, an updated map shows, as Kyiv states that its counteroffensive is about to "gain pace."
Publishing a new map of Russian-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, the Washington D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War think tank said Kyiv's fighters had carried out counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front line.
Hotspots of fighting include areas around the Kharkiv city of Kupiansk, and the Donetsk cities of Lyman and Bakhmut, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in an operational update. There were around 40 combat clashes reported over the previous 24 hours, the General Staff said on Sunday morning.
Ukraine made "unsuccessful attempts at offensive operations" around southern Donetsk, Lyman and in the contested Zaporizhzhia region, Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Reports from Ukraine's air force stated on Sunday that Russian forces had targeted the Black Sea port city of Odesa with 19 missiles in an overnight barrage, including four Kalibr and seven Iskander cruise missiles. Air defenses intercepted nine of these missiles, Ukrainian military said in a post on social media.
Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said one person had been killed and 21 were injured, including four children. At least 44 buildings were damaged, 25 of which are architectural monuments, he added in a post to Telegram.
Russian cruise missile strikes damaged parts of Odesa's Transfiguration Cathedral, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday, publishing photos of the exterior and the inside of the historical building.
Russia rejected these claims in an emphatic statement on Sunday, saying the "the most likely cause of its destruction was the fall of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft guided missile." Moscow's Defense Ministry said its targets were "located at a safe distance" from the cathedral and had avoided "facilities where the civilian population is located, as well as objects of cultural and historical heritage."
"All targets planned to strike were destroyed," the ministry added.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the counteroffensive was set to "gain pace," although it had been hindered by a lack of ammunition sent by Ukraine's allies earlier in the year.
U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, told CNN on Sunday that Kyiv had already reclaimed "about 50 percent" of the territory Russia had seized since the start of the war.
"These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough," Blinken said, adding more details will emerge in the next few months.
