Ukrainian troops claim gains in Russia annexed southern region

Russian recruits gather to take a train at a railway station in Prudboi, Volgograd region of Russia, Thursday, September 29, 2022. [AP]

Ukrainian troops have continued to push forward with their offensive that has embarrassed Moscow, with Kyiv officials and foreign observers hinting at new gains in the strategic southern region of Kherson that the Kremlin wants to annex.

Kherson has been one of the toughest battlefields for the Ukrainians, with slower progress when compared with Ukraine's breakout offensive around the country's second-largest city of Kharkiv, in the northeast, that began last month.