Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Maliar reported on the advance of Ukrainian troops along the southern flank around Bakhmut and in the south, despite the fact that the occupiers are now throwing all their forces to stop the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"Today we have an advance along the southern flank around Bakhmut, along the northern flank, frankly speaking, there are battles, there is no advance yet. In the south we have promotion, every day, by the way. However, our military is facing very serious enemy resistance, the enemy is throwing all his strength now to stop us both in the south and in the east," Maliar said on the air of the telethon on Tuesday.

In particular, she said the occupiers are now powerfully advancing in Lyman direction, as well as in Svativsky and Bakhmut, where they are creating a "three-layered defense."

"That is, they are trying so hard to strengthen themselves, and still nothing comes of it," Maliar said.

She also said that in the east, especially in Lyman and Bakhmut directions, the main struggle is now underway to seize the initiative.

"We have a strategic initiative, if we talk about both the south and the east. Speaking locally, there are fights for this very initiative," Maliar said.

She said the situation at the front is changing, and for example, in Svativsky direction, where the enemy also launched an offensive on Sunday, the same stronghold passes under the control of different sides several times.

"And it is quite difficult to give news in such a situation, so it happens that there is no news until we finally gain a foothold there. That is, the dynamics are very serious. But when we talk, these are two words: hot fights," the deputy minister said.

The Defense Ministry also said they report on operations and successes with a delay of one or two days due to security reasons.

According to Maliar, during the offensive operation, "we didn't have any more losses."

"From the latest figures: in the south, the ratio is such that we have about five times fewer military deaths there. This is an average figure. And we gave in the east a week ago – somewhere in eight times we had less. Why is that? Because for our commanders, headquarters, the key is to save lives. And choosing between rapid advancement and the lives of our people, our military will always choose the lives of people," Maliar said.

In addition, she said in the southern direction, where the Ukrainian offensive is taking place, about 120 units of enemy equipment were destroyed in just a week.