Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds a news briefing, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 10, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.

(Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that a Ukrainian counteroffensive had made gains in southern Zaporizhzhia region as well as in Donetsk region, which is the focal point of the conflict and where Kyiv has been reporting successes.

Kyiv has said for several weeks that its forces have advanced around the town of Dobropillia near the logistical hub of Pokrovsk, one of the key targets of Russian troops advancing slowly westward through Donetsk region.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said Kyiv's forces had made gains of more than 3 km (1.8 miles) further south in Zaporizhzhia region.

"At this time, Ukrainian units are continuing our counteroffensive actions near Dobropillia, but also in other sectors - particularly in Zaporizhzhia region near Orikhiv," he said.

"There, our forces have advanced - today more than 3 km."

The Ukrainian military's 24th Separate Assault Battalion posted on the Telegram messaging app that, together with another unit, it had brought under control Mali Shcherbaky, a village between Orikhiv and the Dnipro River.

A Russian Defence Ministry report made no reference to Ukrainian advances or whether Mali Shcherbaky had changed hands. But it said Moscow's troops had hit Ukrainian troops and equipment in Zaporizhzhia region, including in the village of Novoandriivka, near both Mali Shcherbaky and Orikhiv.

The governor of Zaporizhzhia region said one man was killed and three were wounded in Russian shelling of an area just outside Orikhiv.

The governor of Dnipropetrovsk region to the northwest said two people were killed in a Russian attack on a town outside the region's main city, Dnipro.

Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports from either side.

Ukraine and Russia have in the past week issued conflicting accounts of the situation along the front line in the more than 3-1/2-year-old war, estimated by Ukraine's top commander to stretch for 1,250 km (775 miles).

Russian President Vladimir Putin told senior officers last week that Moscow's forces had captured 5,000 square km of territory this year (1,930 square miles) and have held the strategic advantage through all sectors of the front line.

Zelenskiy, a day later, said Ukrainian forces were inflicting heavy losses on Russian troops near Dobropillia and were "defending ourselves along all other directions."

(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Bogdan Kochubey; Editing by David Gregorio and Edmund Klamann)