Ukraine makes push along entire front, says Zelensky

Ukrainian troops have attacked Russian positions along the entire front, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, while Russia halted gas supplies via a major pipeline to Germany citing the need for maintenance.

Ukraine, now armed with sophisticated Western-supplied weapons, launched a fresh push this week to reclaim territory in the south.

Zelensky, who urged Russian soldiers to flee for their lives, said Ukraine's forces were on the offensive throughout the east and south.

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"Active military engagement is now happening along the whole front line: in the south, in the Kharkiv region, in Donbas," Zelensky said in his nightly address on Tuesday.

Russia captured large tracts of southern Ukraine near the Black Sea coast in the early weeks of the six-month-old war, including in the Kherson region, which lies north of the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a meeting on the current situation in the region. AFP

Ukraine sees recapturing the region as crucial to prevent Russian attempts to seize more territory further west that could eventually cut off its access to the Black Sea.

Ukraine's government has released few details of the offensive.

Britain, an ally of Ukraine, said on Tuesday Ukrainian forces had stepped up its artillery barrage across the southern front, but that it was not possible to confirm the extent of its territorial advances.

Unverified reports, images and footage on social media suggested Ukrainian forces may have taken back some villages and destroyed some Russian targets in the south.

Russia's defence ministry, however, said its troops had routed Ukrainian forces, adding that air defence units had shot down dozens of missiles near Kherson.

Russia is methodically pressing on with its plans in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"All of our goals will be reached," he said.

The media could not verify the battlefield reports.

Reuters