Ukraine claws back more territory from Russia

Debris is scattered at the indoor sport pavilion of a destroyed school in Izium, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Debris is scattered at the indoor sport pavilion of a destroyed school in Izium, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- Ukrainian forces scored more gains in their counteroffensive across at least two fronts Monday, advancing in the very areas that Russia is trying to absorb and challenging Moscow's effort to engage fresh troops and its threats to defend incorporated areas by all means.

In their latest breakthrough, Ukrainian forces penetrated Moscow's defenses in the strategic southern Kherson region, one of the four areas in Ukraine that Russia is in the process of annexing.

Kyiv's troops also consolidated gains in the east and other major battlefields, re-establishing Ukrainian control just as Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to overcome problems with manpower, weapons, troop morale and logistics, along with intensifying domestic and international criticism. Putin faces disarray and anger domestically about his partial troop mobilization and confusion about the establishment of new Russian borders.

Ukraine's advances have become so apparent that even Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, who usually focuses on his military's successes and the enemy's losses, was forced to acknowledge it.

"With numerically superior tank units in the direction of Zolota Balka and Oleksandrivka, the enemy managed to forge deep into our defenses," Konashenkov said Monday, referring to two towns in the Kherson region. He coupled that with claims that Russian forces inflicted heavy losses on Ukraine's military.

Ukrainian forces have struggled to retake the Kherson region due to its open terrain, in contrast to their successful breakout offensive in the northeast around the country's second-largest city of Kharkiv that began last month.

Ukraine has pressed its counteroffensive in the Kherson region since the summer, relentlessly pummeling Russian supply lines and making inroads into Russian-held areas west of the Dnieper River. The Ukrainian military has used U.S.-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers to repeatedly hit the main bridge across the Dnieper and a dam that served as a second crossing. It also has struck pontoon bridges that Russia has used to supply its troops.

As the front lines shifted, the political theater in Moscow continued, with Russia's lower house of parliament rubber-stamping annexation treaties for Ukraine's Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions to join Russia. The upper house will follow suit today. This follows annexation "referendums" that the Kremlin orchestrated last week that the U.N. chief and Western nations have said were illegal and fraudulent.

  photo  Ukrainian Olexandra Komarysta cleans the street next to a residential building damaged in a Russian bombing in Saltivka neighbourhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
 
 
  photo  Ukrainian soldiers remove metal structure pieces as they work on a bridge damaged during fighting with Russian troops in Izium, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
 
 
  photo  Ukrainian soldiers remove metal pieces as they work on a bridge damaged during fighting with Russian troops in Izium, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
 
 
  photo  Debris hang from a partially destroyed residential building at Saltivka neighbourhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
 
 
  photo  Ukrainian soldiers remove metal structure pieces as they work on a bridge damaged during fighting with Russian troops in Izium, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
 
 
  photo  Locals and army vehicles cross a temporary bridge that replaces a destroyed one nearby, in Izium, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
 
 
  photo  In this handout photo released by The State Duma, The Federal Assembly of The Russian Federation Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, foreground center, addresses deputies during a session at the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. Russia's lower house of parliament endorses treaties for 4 regions of Ukraine to join Russia. (The State Duma, The Federal Assembly of The Russian Federation Press Service via AP)
 
 
  photo  Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman and head of the United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev speaks during a meeting on science at Gorki state residence, outside Moscow, Russia, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. Medvedev deplored the decision by Western nations to rupture scientific ties with Russia over its action in Ukraine.(Ekaterina Shtukina, Sputnik Pool Photo via AP)
 
 
  photo  Russians lineup to get Kazakhstan's a Personal Identification Number (INN) in a public service center in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. Kazakhstan, together with the ex-Soviet nation of Georgia, comprised two of the most popular destinations for those crossing by land in an effort to avoid the call-up. At least 135,400 Russians have been reported to enter Kazakhstan between Sept. 21 and Sept. 30. (Vladimir Tretyakov/NUR.KZ via AP)