lesser extent in the south down here. they ve gained even more ground in offensives. president zelenskyy claims they have recaptured some 6,000 square kilometers of territory. it s about 2,300 square miles since the beginning of the month. this is impossible to verify, but it is even more ground than the russians actually gained in the last several months and it happened fast. i want to show you this animation here, if we can zoom in. you can see the yellow there, how quickly ukrainian troops have recaptured territory that had been occupied by the russians. now russia is responding. ukrainian officials say russian strikes knocked out power in the region. in donetsk ukrainian forces also recaptured a town there after forces crossed the donetsk river. this here is the aftermath. the capture will further complicate any attempt by the remaining russian-backed forces to withdraw, and last night secretary of state tony blinken called the recent gains by ukrainians encouraging.
the lead with jake tapper starts right now. announcer: this is cnn breaking news welcome to the lead. i m pamela brown in washington, d.c. in for jake tapper. and i m wolf blitzer. after the attacks and the israeli military now surrounding an inside significant areas gaza city and the bombardments continues to take a devastating stake on those inside. they cannot keep up with the amount of injured and sick cases. at least 9,000 people killed in israeli attacks on gaza according to the hamas-controlled health ministry. right now u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is headed to israel. here where i am in tel aviv, making his second wartime visit saying he will discuss concrete steps to minimize civilian casualties. israel has not only the right but the obligation to defend itself, and also to take steps to try to make sure this never happens again. we ve also said clearly and repeatedly how israel does this matters. right now i go to breaking news. look at