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Ms Maliar said yesterday that Ukraine\u2019s forces had retaken a square mile around Bakhmut and nearly two in Tavria.<\/p>\n
Troops had liberated the village of Opytne, in the eastern Donetsk region, and enjoyed \u201cpartial success\u201d at Novomaiorske, to the southwest, and Klishchiivka, just south of Bakhmut.<\/p>\n
They had taken about 100 square miles in Tavria since the start of the counter-offensive three months ago, despite being held up by vast Russian trenches and minefields.<\/p>\n
The Opytne liberation left Ukrainian troops within a couple of miles of the Donetsk region\u2019s international airport, lost to Russian-backed separatists in 2015.<\/p>\n
Kyiv\u2019s GUR military intelligence said Ukraine had captured the Crimean gas and oil platforms nicknamed Boiko Towers after seven years of Russian occupation.<\/p>\n
The facilities had been taken over after Moscow\u2019s 2014 annexation of Crimea and since last year\u2019s invasion began, used to service Moscow\u2019s military push.<\/p>\n
A spokesman said: \u201cRegaining control of the Boiko Towers was of strategic importance, and as a result Russia lost the ability to use them for military purposes.<\/p>\n
\u201cRussia has been deprived of the ability to fully control the Black Sea and this makes Ukraine many steps closer to regaining Crimea.\u201d<\/p>\n
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