Large Russian assault near town of Dobropillia repelled by Kyiv's forces, says Ukraine brigade

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia launched a large armoured assault on Thursday with more than 20 armoured vehicles near the eastern Ukrainian town of Dobropillia, Ukraine's Azov brigade said, adding that its forces had repelled the attack.

There was no immediate comment from Russian authorities on the reported assault. Ukraine's General Staff made no mention of the Russian attack in a note posted on Thursday afternoon but said it was conducting "stabilising" operations in the area.

"On 16 October, the enemy made another attempt at a massive mechanised attack (in Dobropillia area)," the Azov brigade said on Facebook.

The brigade said it had destroyed nine of the Russian armoured vehicles while repelling the attack, which it said had aimed to take the village of Shakhove, to the east of Dobropillia.

Azov brigade posted video of the fighting and Reuters was able to verify the location shown as being near the village of Malynivka in the Donetsk region. Malynivka is about 13 km south of Shakhove.

Top Ukrainian military officials have said in recent weeks that Ukraine is advancing and retaking territory in the area near Dobropillia, and have described Russian troops as being caught in a trap.

Dobropillia is near the logistical hub of Pokrovsk, one of the key targets of Russian troops as they advance slowly westward through Donetsk region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has touted his forces' advances near Dobropillia as a way of showing that Ukraine can fight back against Russia's grinding forward momentum.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that Ukraine wants "to go offensive", although he did not specify where.

Ukraine's military said on Thursday it had retaken 182 square kilometres of territory in the area in recent months.

A Russian military blogger who uses the name 'Voenny Osvedomitel' said on Thursday that Russian forces had attempted to widen their salient near Dobropillia, but added that images published by Ukraine appeared to show the armoured column had been spotted and hit long before reaching the frontline.

(Reporting by Max Hunder and Yuliia DysaEditing by Gareth Jones)