Ukraine's counteroffensive is now underway. Here's what's happened so far

Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russian forces has not yet gained the momentum that some overly optimistic observers anticipated. So far it feels like the prelude to a more expansive act.

Offensive operations so far have yielded modest gains in the southern regions like Zaporizhzhia with multi-layered Russian defenses proving tough to crack. The area is seen as a major target for Ukraine as it would mean breaking Russia's land-bridge between annexed Crimea and eastern Donetsk.

But there are also signs that Ukrainian forces are spreading their bets, looking to pare back Russian gains around Bakhmut and exploiting what they perceive as vulnerabilities elsewhere in the east.

Rather than a display of overwhelming force that concentrates newly-formed brigades in one direction, the Ukrainians appear to be trying to pull Russian units in different directions, working out which might be weak or exploiting lines separating different battalions.

On Thursday, an adviser to the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, Mykhailo Podolyak, said the first goal was to wipe out as many Russian draftee units as possible and "increase the psychological pressure on the Russian army."

"At the same time," he said, Ukrainian units are "testing to see which areas are the weakest."

This has included fresh assault operations around Bakhmut designed to force the Russians to send more units to defend a city they took more than six months to destroy and occupy. On Friday, the commander of Ukrainian Land Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said the Russians "continue to move some of the most combat-ready units to the Bakhmut direction."