Volodymyr Zelensky made the announcement in a late video address on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
'6,000 square kilometres': Zelensky
Ukraine’s president told the nation: “From the beginning of September until today, our warriors have already liberated more than 6,000 square kilometres of the territory of Ukraine - in the east and south. The movement of our troops continues,” as cited by the Ukrinform news agency.
It comes amid a continuing Ukrainian counter-offensive, notably in the northeastern Kharkiv region and the southern Kherson oblast, with Russia admitting to having lost key cities in the Kharkiv area in recent days, according to news outlets.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US think tank, has noted that Ukraine’s sweeping counter-offensive has been well planned and skillfully executed, as quoted by PAP.
In his speech, Zelensky thanked several brigades of the Ukrainian army taking part in the campaign, saying: “Guys, you are true heroes!”
'Significant progress': Blinken
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said later on Monday that Ukrainian forces had made "significant progress" in their counter-attack, but noted that it was too early to predict the result.
Blinken cautioned: "The Russians maintain very significant forces in Ukraine as well as equipment and arms and munitions.”
“They continue to use it indiscriminately against not just the Ukrainian armed forces but civilians and civilian infrastructure as we've seen," the top US diplomat said.
Tuesday is day 202 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, ukrinform.net, bbc.com