Ukrainian forces have retaken the tiny village of Urozhaine and driven farther into the Mokri Yaly River Valley in the south of the country after more than a week of battling Russian troops, as Ukraine pushes on with a grinding counteroffensive that has struggled to break through entrenched Russian lines.

¡°Urozhaine has been liberated,¡± Hanna Malyar, a Ukrainian deputy defense minister, said in a statement Wednesday, one day after Russian forces said they had retreated from the village.

The Russian Vostok battalion, which took part in the battle, confirmed in a statement Tuesday, ¡°We lost Urozhaine.¡±