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Ukraine's Defence Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, has said his forces' priority is to secure the territory they have liberated in recent fighting. Mr Reznikov claimed the Ukrainian advance had been the biggest setback Moscow has suffered in 200 days of conflict.

However, Russia still holds around a fifth of the country, and few imagine a swift end to the war.

Lesia Vasylenko is a member of the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv. She told Newsday: 鈥淚t鈥檚 way over 40, closer to 50 towns and cities that are under Ukrainian control鈥�we are also making advances in the Donetsk region and the Luhansk region.鈥�

(Picture: People pose in front of Taras Shevchenko statue after the Ukrainian army liberated the town of Balakliya in the south-eastern Kharkiv oblast, Ukraine, on September 11 2022. Credit: Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.)