Ukraine says it has retaken 20 villages in the south in a counteroffensive.

Ukrainian forces have taken back control of 20 small towns and villages in the south of the country, an official said, as part of a counteroffensive intended to recapture lost territory and to tie up some Russian forces at a time when Moscow is intensely focused on an offensive in the east.

Military analysts say the counterattacks Ukraine has mounted in recent days in the Kherson region is unlikely to prove decisive at this point. Transformative shifts in fortune for either side have become rare in the war, which has settled into a slow-moving slog since Russia invaded in February.

But the offensive is taking place in a part of the country where the influx of heavier artillery supplied by the United States and its allies could make a difference in the coming months. In the meantime, Ukrainian commanders are trying to keep President Putin’s troops off balance in territory they seized early in the conflict. Read more

@nytimes