Ukraine forces raise national flag in Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia region

PHOTO CAPTION: Ukrainian forces raise the national flag in the settlement of Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, in this screen grab taken from a social media video released August 23, 2023. Telegram Valerii Zaluzhnyi/via REUTERS

(Reuters) -Ukrainian forces have raised the national flag in the settlement of Robotyne in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, Kyiv's military said on Wednesday, though it was not clear whether the entire community had been liberated from Russian forces.

"A historic day! Soldiers of the 47th Separate Mechanised Brigade set up the flag of Ukraine in the village of Robotyne, in one of the hottest destinations – Melitopol," the brigade said in a post on its Telegram channel.

In a video published by General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces, the Ukrainian flag is seen on a roof of a badly damaged building surrounded by burnt trees.

"A blue and yellow flag signed by the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was raised on the school destroyed by the Russian invaders on the National Flag Day!" the 47th Brigade said.

Reuters was able to confirm the location from the road’s layout and buildings' structure seen in the video which matched satellite and file imagery of the area. Reuters was not able to separately verify the date when the video was filmed.

Kyiv seeks to recapture the strategic southern city of Melitopol as part of its counter-offensive against Russia's full-scale 2022 invasion.

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Mark Heinrich, David Evans and Jonathan Oatis)