Russia and Ukraine both claim front-line progress with US-brokered talks on hold

Russian and Ukrainian officials are making contradictory claims of battlefield successes in their 4-year-old war

KYIV, Ukraine -- Russian and Ukrainian officials are making contradictory claims of battlefield successes in their 4-year-old war, with Ukraine saying it has pushed Moscow’s forces back in some places on the front line but the Kremlin insisting that Russia’s invasion of its neighbor is making progress.

At the same time, Russia’s almost daily aerial attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine continue, with overnight drone strikes on two cities injuring at least 14 people, including two children, emergency services said Tuesday.

Ukraine’s air force said that it shot down 122 out of 137 drones that Russia launched during the night.

U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine are on hold as Washington’s attention is gripped by the Iran war, which has drawn the international spotlight from Ukraine’s plight as it strives to hold back Russia’s bigger army.

Despite being short of soldiers, Ukrainian forces have recently retaken nearly all the territory of the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk industrial region during a counteroffensive, driving Russian troops out of more than 400 square kilometers (150 square miles), Maj. Gen. Oleksandr Komarenko said in an interview published Tuesday by local media outlet RBC-Ukraine.