 Ukraine liberates half of territories seized by Russia. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Ukraine already regained about half of its territories that were occupied by Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Blinken said this in an interview with CNN. Ukraine has already taken back 50% of what was initially seized by Russia. At the same time, he said, the armed forces of Ukraine faced significant resistance during counter-offensive operations. These are still relatively early days of the counter-offensive. It is tough, he said, adding, it will not play out over the next week or two. Blinken added, he said that the US believes that Ukraine's counter-offensive will continue for at least several months more. Blinken believes that Russia has already lost the war in Ukraine given the goals that Russia set for itself at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The objective was to erase Ukraine from the map, to eliminate its independence, its sovereignty, to subsume it into Russia. That failed a long time ago, he added. Blinken stressed that unlike the Russians, Ukrainians are fighting for their land, for their future, for their country, for their freedom.