The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, says Ukrainian forces are “moving forward” near Bakhmut.
Russia claimed to have captured the city last month after months of fighting.
Russia has said its forces thwarted a major Ukrainian offensive in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk, killing 250 Ukrainian soldiers and destroying tanks and armoured vehicles.
Two drones fell on a highway in Russia’s Kaluga region, which lies south of the Moscow region, with the governor saying on Monday that no explosives detonated.
Italian cardinal Matteo Zuppi has travelled to Kyiv on a Vaitcan peace mission for two-day talks with the Ukrainian authorities.
Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from Kyiv, says Russia’s claim that its military thwarted a Ukrainian offensive is “impossible to verify”.
“The Ukrainian authorities and Ukrainian military, in the last few days, have started working on a campaign of silence. They released a video showing heavily armed Ukrainian soldiers putting their fingers to their lips, literally warning the public and warning the military to stay silent on any kind of information from the frontline,” Stratford said.
“We know that this long-expected counteroffensive, according to the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he’s saying his troops are ready to start. But whether, in fact, this alleged assault by the Ukrainians, according to Russia, has actually happened, whether in fact it is an initial stage of this counter offensive, is very difficult to know indeed.”
Stratford explained that while there is no information from the Ukrainians, the timing of Zelenskyy’s announcement that the counteroffensive is about to start is “very interesting”.
A statement by United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan calling for bilateral arms control discussions was “positive”, says the Kremlin.
On Friday, Sullivan said the US would abide by the nuclear weapons limits set in the New START Treaty until it expires in 2026 if Russia did the same.
“This is an important and positive statement by Mr Sullivan. Of course, we expect it to be de facto confirmed by steps through diplomatic channels, and then the proposed formats for dialogue can be considered,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
President Vladimir Putin suspended Moscow’s participation in the treaty in February.
