Despite their small size, capturing the villages is an incursion into the first line of Russian defenses and could allow Ukrainian forces to try a deeper thrust into occupied areas.

Myroslav Semeniuk, spokesman for the brigade, told the Associated Press that an assault team captured six Russian troops after entering several buildings where some 60 soldiers were holed up.

Zelensky said that ‘the counteroffensive, defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine. I will not speak about which stage or phase they are in.’

Thousands of people are believed to be trapped by floodwaters spread across a swath of Ukraine after a catastrophic dam collapse.

The collapse of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam and emptying of its reservoir on the Dnieper River added to the misery the region has suffered for more than a year from artillery and missile attacks.

Russian and Ukrainian officials used terms like ‘ecological disaster’ and ‘terrorist act’ to describe the torrent of water gushing through the broken dam and beginning to empty an upstream reservoir that is one of the world’s largest.

Ukrainian forces are making a major effort to punch through Russian defensive lines in southeast Ukraine for a second day.

The latest Russian attack, using what Ukrainian officials said were short-range Iskander ground-launched missiles, coincided with events scheduled in Kyiv to celebrate International Children’s Day. Those events were canceled.

The attack angered Russia’s hawks, who criticize President Vladimir Putin for failing to protect the heart of Kremlin power.