Ukraine has said it has liberated three villages – claiming they are the army’s first victories since its counter-offensive began.

Footage on social media shows Ukrainian troops celebrating in Blahodatne and Neskuchne – which is believed to mean that they have taken back control of the small villages.

Kyiv’s deputy defence minister, Hannah Maliar has said nearby Makarivka was also taken.

It come after yesterday Russia announced it wanted to take back control of the Wagner Group after months of infighting.

In photographs posted online, soldiers can be seen looking out the windows of a building that they have seemingly taken control of.

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Other footage shared by pro-Ukrainian accounts troops could be seen raising the Ukrainian flag outside a burned-out building in Blahodatne.

And the state border guard published videos showing Kyiv’s forces announcing that ‘Neskuchne of the Donetsk region is under the Ukrainian flag again’, before shouting the now standard battle cry of ‘Glory to Ukraine’.

While the capture of the three villages mark the biggest advances of recent days, the settlements are relatively small.

On Saturday, President Zelensky acknowledged that the long-awaited counter-offensive was under way.

Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar claimed in a Telegram video that Ukraine’s forces had also taken the village of Makarivka.

An army spokesperson said the gains were the first localised victories of the counter-offensive.

While the capture of the three villages mark the biggest advances of recent days, the settlements are relatively small. Blahodatne had a pre-war population of just 1,000 residents.

The village, which has been the centre of intense fighting in recent days, sits on the road towards the city of Mariupol, and some analysts have suggested that Ukraine could seek to recapture the port city in the coming months.

Others have speculated that Kyiv wants to break the land bridge between occupied Crimea and Donetsk, isolating Russian troops on the peninsula.

Further east, Ukrainian troops are also said to have advanced near the ruined city of Bakhmut, the scene of a long and bloody battle between Ukrainian forces and Russian troops.

Moscow is yet to confirm the fall of any of the villages, instead speaking of repelling Ukrainian assaults in the region.

Elsewhere, Ukraine says Russia has blown up another dam in the Zaporizhzhia region, following the destruction of the major Kakhovka dam on Monday.

This caused widespread flooding and mass evacuations. On Sunday, President Zelensky said 4,000 people had now been evacuated.

Ukraine says the dam was blown up by Russian forces, who have controlled it since February 2022.

Valeriy Shershen, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military, said Moscow’s forces had chosen to blow up a second dam near the village of Novodarivka, which ‘led to the flooding on both banks of the Mokri Yaly river’.

Mr Shershen said Russia was deliberately blowing up dams in the region to halt Ukraine’s advance towards occupied areas.

Russia has denied it blew up the Kakhovka dam and has blamed Ukraine instead.

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