Ukraine claims gains on south front

Ukraine said yesterday its forces had recaptured small clutches of land from Russian forces along the southern front and near Bakhmut, regions where Kyiv's troops have focused their slow-moving counter-offensive.

Kyiv launched its bid to wrest back territory controlled by Moscow in June, after stockpiling Western-supplied weapons and recruiting assault battalions.

Its efforts have focused on the war-battered town of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, as well as several points along the frontline in the south, towards Crimea.

"Two square kilometres (0.77 square miles) were liberated in the Bakhmut sector," Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said on state media.

Her announcement came one day after Kyiv said its forces had retaken Klishchiivka, a village south of Bakhmut. Malyar also said Ukrainian forces had clawed back 5.2 square kilometres in the south.

Ukraine said yesterday its air defence systems had downed a swarm of attack drones and nearly 20 cruise missiles in Russia's latest aerial barrage overnight.

Meanwhile, Russia hit out at Ukraine at the International Court of Justice yesterday, as the two warring countries squared off in a legal case over Moscow's claim that "genocide" in eastern Ukraine was a pretext for last year's invasion.

Moscow's representative, Gennady Kuzmin, said Ukraine's case that Russia "abused" the United Nations Genocide Convention as a reason to launch its war against its neighbour in February 2022 "couldn't be further from the truth".

Kyiv announced the territorial gains as Beijing said China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, began a four-day visit to Russia for security talks yesterday.

China and Russia are strategic allies, with both countries frequently touting their "no limits" partnership and economic and military cooperation.

China's foreign ministry said Wang would hold security consultations at the invitation of Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia's Security Council.

The visit was due a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un left Russia following a rare six-day trip, which appeared to solidify his country's ties with President Vladimir Putin and fanned Western fears Pyongyang could provide Moscow with weapons.

A top United Nations expert meanwhile warned that respect for human rights inside Russia had substantially worsened since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.

"The situation of human rights in the Russian Federation has significantly deteriorated since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022," UN Special Rapporteur Mariana Katzarova said in her first report on Russia.

Ukraine plans to sue Poland, Hungary and Slovakia over bans on Ukrainian agricultural products, Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky said yesterday. "I think (it will be) in the near future," he told Reuters.

Politico had earlier yesterday quoted Ukrainian Trade Representative Taras Kachka as saying in an interview that Kyiv planned to sue the three countries.