Ukraine on Monday said its troops had broken through Russia’s defenses on the southern frontline and liberated the small village of Robotyne last week. Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, was quoted by the military as saying that “Robotyne has been liberated” and that Kyiv’s forces are advancing southeast in the face of “fierce resistance” from Russian occupiers. Robotyne is about six miles from the frontline town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region on a road toward Tokmak—a road and rail hub now occupied by Moscow’s soldiers. Reclaiming Tokmak could represent a major breakthrough in Ukraine’s southward counteroffensive designed to split Russia’s forces in the country.
