UKRAINE TROOPS OUTNUMBERED RUSSIA'S IN KHARKIV: Ukraine ups the offensive, reaches Russian border

Regains control over 3,000 sq km

Ukraine forces. outnumbered Russians by eight to one in last week's counter-attack in the Kharkiv region, Russia's top occupation official says.

According to the BBC, Vitaly Ganchev told Russian TV that Ukraine's army had taken villages in the north and broken through to the Russian border.

Ukraine says it has regained control over 3,000 sq km (1,158 sq miles) of territory in a potential breakthrough in the six-month war.

The Ukrainian army says it took back 20 villages in the past 24 hours alone, in its continued counter-offensive in the north-east of the country.

It also said its forces have taken control of around 500 sq km in the southern Kherson region of the country.

Ukraine's general staff said its soldiers had recaptured more than 20 towns and villages in just the past day.