KYIV: A Ukrainian army unit has launched a counter-offensive against Russian forces near Lyman, an embattled town in Ukraine’s east that Moscow has been edging toward for months, the unit’s commander said Tuesday.

Russia has seized around three-quarters of the Donetsk region since invading in February 2022, with Lyman one of the few urban areas in the region still under Ukraine’s control.

Its capture could pave the way for Moscow to sweep further south and threaten the Ukrainian-held strongholds of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, according to military analysts.

The area has been the site of intense battles throughout the four-and-a-half-year war.

“The 3rd Army Corps has launched an offensive operation called Vivaldi in this sector,” the Commander of Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps, Andriy Biletsky, said in a video on Telegram.

Ukrainian units have cleared Russian infiltrators from an area “about 75 square kilometers”, he added.

DeepState, a battlefield map linked to the Ukrainian army, showed Ukrainian troops had made a small pocket of gains north of the town.

There was no immediate public comment from Russia to Ukraine’s claims.

Widespread drone use at the front has made large-scale troop movements almost impossible, preventing either side from gaining a clear advantage in the grinding conflict.

Russia’s advance in east Ukraine gained pace in August, but remained far slower than in previous years of its invasion, an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed earlier in September.