Ukraine seeks to extend counter-attack against Russians

Zelensky visits front line while Moscow says forces hitting back against areas recaptured

The Ukrainian government said it was trying to extend a counter-offensive in the east as President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to a devastated and recently recaptured town on Wednesday, but pro-Russian officials said they had halted Kyiv's forces for now.

Russian forces suffered a stunning reversal this month after Ukrainian troops made a rapid armoured thrust with special forces in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv, forcing a sometimes rushed and chaotic Russian withdrawal. Mr Zelensky said in a late-night address on Tuesday that his army had liberated around 8,000 sq km of territory so far this month, a swathe of land nearly equivalent to the island of Cyprus.

Mr Zelensky, who visited the town of Izyum, an important logistics hub around 15km from the current front line in the east, said that fully securing and rooting out any pro-Russian elements had been completed in about half of liberated territory.