Ukraine counter-offensive: Kyiv says it has liberated villages in Donetsk region

Ukraine says it has liberated four villages in the south-east of the country in the first victories of its much-anticipated counter-offensive.

Officials reported on Monday that "the national flag is once again waving" over Storozheve, in the Donetsk region.

Reports and footage from the weekend show similar scenes in the neighbouring settlements of Blahodatne and Neskuchne, as well as nearby Makarivka.

The villages are relatively small and Moscow is yet to confirm any retreat.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the counter-offensive had begun.

These four settlements would be the first liberated since his comments, but not the first that Ukraine has recaptured since last Monday, when its forces began to advance in the country's south.