Ukraine has continued to liberate territory in the east and the south of the country, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as Russian defence ministry maps appeared to show rapid withdrawals of its invasion forces, writes The Guardian.

The ministry’s daily video briefing made no mention of any pullbacks, but on maps used to show the location of purported Russian strikes, the shaded area designating Russian military control was smaller than the day before.

The maps included in Tuesday’s daily military briefing showed Russian forces were no longer in control of the village of Dudchany on the west bank of the Dnieper River, where Ukraine’s forces have been pushing to reclaim territory captured at the start of Moscow’s offensive.

In the north-eastern Kharkiv region, where Kyiv’s run of battlefield victories began in early September, Russian defence ministry maps showed that its forces had left positions on the west bank of the Oskil River.