Ukraine counteroffensive makes "notable" progress near Zaporizhzhia, but it's a grinding stalemate elsewhere

Kyiv — Ukraine's counteroffensive is grinding on. Video from Ukraine's Azov battalion showed an early morning assault on Russia's defensive lines near the town of Bakhmut. The intense, running gun battles there come months after Moscow-backed mercenaries seized control of the eastern city in a hugely symbolic victory.

They took Bakhmut after some of the war's most brutal fighting, and the ongoing battle around the city, as along much of the hundreds-of-miles-long front line, is bloody and neither side is advancing significantly.

But as Ukraine's counteroffensive grinds to a stalemate on multiple fronts, the military is starting to make important gains further the south. According to U.S. officials, there was "notable" progress near the southern city of Zaporizhzhia over the weekend.