(Reuters) - President Volodymyr&nbsp;Zelenskiy&nbsp;warned Ukrainians that Russia was throwing all its resources into a campaign to stop&nbsp;Kyiv's&nbsp;troops&nbsp;from pressing their counter offensive and a top&nbsp;general&nbsp;reported new progress on the&nbsp;southern front.
But Ukrainian military analysts suggested that things were not easy for Ukrainian forces in their bid to advance&nbsp;southward.
Ukraine has launched a counter offensive to take back swathes of land in eastern and&nbsp;southern Ukraine captured by&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;forces in their invasion launched in February 2022.
It has focused on capturing villages in the&nbsp;southeast in a drive towards the Sea of Azov and areas near the eastern city of Bakhmut, taken by&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;forces in May after months of battles.
Russian&nbsp;accounts said its forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks in eastern Donetsk region, including around Bakhmut.
"We must all understand very clearly, as clearly as possible, that&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;forces in our&nbsp;southern and eastern lands are doing everything they can in order to stop our soldiers,"&nbsp;Zelenskiy&nbsp;said in his nightly video address after chairing a meeting with top commanders on Friday.
"And every thousand metres we advance, every success of every combat brigade deserves our gratitude."
Reuters was unable to verify battlefield reports.
General&nbsp;Oleksander Tarnavskyi, commander of Ukrainian forces in the&nbsp;south, said after the meeting that his&nbsp;troops&nbsp;were "systematically moving the enemy out of their positions".
Enemy losses over the past 24 hours were equivalent to at least 200, he wrote on Telegram.
"In the&nbsp;south, the situation is very difficult in advancing towards Berdiansk," military analyst Serhiy Hrabskyi told Ukrainian NV radio, referring to a port on the Sea of Azov. Ukrainian forces hope to cut off a land bridge&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;forces have established with the annexed Crimean peninsula.
"They are moving on the village of Robotyne. The enemy is offering resistance to stop our advance&nbsp;southward."
Russia's Defence Ministry, in its daily report, said its forces had repelled 16 Ukrainian attacks on the eastern front, including near the long-contested town of Maryinka and in the strategic village of Klishchiivka, on Bakhmut's&nbsp;southern fringe.
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(Reporting by Ronald Popeski and Oleksander Kozhukhar; editing by Diane Craft)

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Zelenskiy warns of Russian efforts to halt Kyiv's troops, general notes advances in south