Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claims a surprise offensive has already freed 30 towns and villages from Russian control.
"We're getting reports from the hospitals about the massive casualties and so forth. But victory, the price of victory is very high," said Pavlo Bandrhiskey, of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.
Western journalists say it's difficult to determine exactly what's happening at the battlefront, since the Ukrainian military has clamped tight restrictions on the flow of information. "We're also seeing Ukraine not only hold the line in the Donbas and in the northeast, but, as you noted, make a significant advance," said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
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