Ukraine said Wednesday that recapturing the village of Robotyne this week was a strategic victory paving the way for its forces to push deeper into Russian positions in the south towards Crimea.
The foreign minister's comments came as Kyiv announced two people had been killed in the "most powerful" aerial attack on the capital in weeks, and Russia reported a drone strike on military aircraft in its northwest.
Kyiv launched a counteroffensive in June after stockpiling Western-supplied weapons and building up assault battalions.