UKRAINE claimed its troops have turned the tide in a key part of the eastern front.
Kyiv’s top general Oleksandr Syrskyi said his troops had recaptured some 60 square miles in a major reversal since August.
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He also claimed Putin’s invaders had abandoned positions in a further 70 square miles north of the bomb-blitzed town of Pokrovsk.
The advances are welcome successes for Kyiv after months of Russian assaults wore down Ukraine’s morale.
Gen Syrskyi claimed Russian forces had suffered eye-watering losses including 1500 killed in action, another thousand wounded and at least 12 main battle tanks destroyed.
In a statement on Monday Gen Syrskyi said: “Control has been restored in seven settlements and nine more have been cleared of enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups.
“As of 12pm on 22 September 2025, a total of 164.0 km² have been liberated and another 180.3 km² cleared of enemy sabotage groups.”
Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy announced the counter-attack success last week.
The fight back followed a shock Russian advance in August.
Small groups of Russian “saboteurs” found weak points in the Ukrainian line and advanced almost six miles overnight, threatening to cut a key supply road between Dobropillia and Kostiantynivka.
Ukraine’s troops scrambled to contain the breakthrough and have now started to push them back.
Gen Syrskyi said his forces had continued to advance yesterday.
He said: “In the past 24 hours alone the enemy have lost 65 servicemen, 43 of them killed in action, along with 11 pieces of equipment.”
The wrecked Russian kit included four artillery guns, six drones and a quad bike which Russian troops used for assaults.
Gen Syrskyi claimed his assault teams “advanced between 200 m and 2.5 km in certain areas.”
The destroyed Russian weapons ranged from 12 main battle tanks to almost 60 motorcycles over the course of the counter offensive.
Russia hit back by claiming its troops had advanced to the south of Pokrovsk and captured the hamlet of Kalynivske.
Ukraine denied the Russian advance.
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It comes as President Zelensky prepared to meet Donald Trump at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Zelenskyy is expected to press Trump for sanctions on Russia if Putin refuses to meet them.
President Trump said Putin had “let him down” over peace in Ukraine.
Speaking during his state visit to Britain Trump said he thought the war in Ukraine would have been the easiest war for him to solve because of their relationship.
He said: “I thought this war would be one of the easiest to solve because of my relationship with Putin. But he has really let me down.”
The head of Britain’s MI6 warned Putin was “stringing us along”.
In a message aimed squarely at Donald Trump, the spy chief Sir Richard Moore said: “I have seen absolutely no evidence that President Putin has any interest in a negotiated peace short of Ukrainian capitulation.
Sir Richard, who is known as C, used his final chief as head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service to say Putin lies to the world, to his people and “perhaps even to himself.”
He said: “We should not believe him or credit him with strength he does not have.”
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Trump has called Putin a genius, repeatedly mentioned Russia’s size and strength, and he rolled out the red carpet for Putin when they met in Alaska last month.
Sir Richard, who has access to Britain’s most secret reports on Putin’s intentions, insisted the Russian dictator was still determined to bring Kyiv under Russian control.
He said: “Putin seeks to impose his imperial will by all means at his disposal.”
But he said Russia was doomed to fail.
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He said: “He cannot succeed. Russia simply does not have the wherewithal to fully subjugate Ukraine by force.
Sir Richard acknowledged Russian troops were “grinding forward on the battlefield”.
But he said it was at “a snail’s pace and horrendous cost”.
He said: “Putin has bitten off more than he can chew.
“History warns us never to underestimate a country fighting for its independence and for its very survival.
“Greater powers than Russia have failed to subjugate weaker powers than Ukraine.
“In the end, if we hold our nerve, Putin will need to come to terms with the fact that he has a choice – to risk an economic and political crisis that threatens his own rule, or make a sensible deal.”
Sir Richard, who has been tipped as a possible British ambassador to Washington, lavished praise on Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy.
He said: “My admiration for him is unbounded.”
By contrast he accused Putin of plunging Russia into “long term decline”.
He said: “He invests not in infrastructure, schools and hospitals but in missiles, munitions and morgues.”
Britain and European leaders have rallied around President Zelenskyy after the war leader had a disastrous meeting with President Trump in the White House in March.
Trump’s relations with Zelenskyy have since improved but Ukrainians fear he could cut US support to Ukraine on a whim.
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Trump threatened Russia with “serious consequences” if he didn’t make steps towards peace.
But Trump’s deadline passed with no penalties for Russia.
And Moscow has since flown a squadron of drones into Poland during a night-time blitz on Ukraine.
Sir Richard goaded the Russian president – who is himself a former KGB intelligence officer – by encouraging Russians to spy for Britain.
And he boasted that some of Putin’s opponents were already “secretly working with MI6”.
Sir Richard was making his final public speech before stepping down after five years as the chief of MI6.
And he formally launched new “dark web portal” codenamed Silent Courier, to help potential spies contact MI6 secretly from anywhere in the world.
He is due to be replaced by Blaise Metreweli, the first ever female chief of MI6, who is currently serving as Q, head of the MI6 gadgets.
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