“We are going on the counterattack. “We are moving forward,” Vadim Denishenko, an adviser to the interior minister, told Ukrainian television. CNN reported earlier that Ukrainian forces appeared to have recaptured territory around the small settlement of Lukianovka about 55 kilometers (about 34 miles) east of the capital. The social media site geographically located by CNN portrayed the aftermath of the fierce fighting there. Just northwest of Kiev, the mayor of Irpin told CNN that 80 percent of the city was controlled by the Ukrainian army, but added that it was still under fire from Russian Grad missiles. “Very serious fighting took place near Baryshivka [to the east]Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin [all to the northwest]. “We have managed to understand a lot,” Denisenko said. There were defensive lines, he said, with organized counterattacks. “Twelve tanks, several planes, more than 10 armored vehicles and at least 300 people have been destroyed in the last 24 hours,” he said. At the same time, Denishenko reported further Russian airstrikes south of the capital, near Vasilkiv, about 30 kilometers (about 18 miles) away, and Bila Cherkva, about 70 kilometers (about 43 miles) away. According to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russia’s response to its losses is to continue to increase the number of troops in neighboring Belarus, with many growing from units in eastern Russia.
