KYIV, Aug 4 - Ukrainian forces recaptured two villages around the eastern city of Sloviansk, but had been pushed back to the town of Avdiivka's outskirts after being forced to abandon a coal mine regarded as a key defensive position, General Oleksiy Hromov said Thursday.

Hromov also said that Russia might launch its own offensive in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson to try to win back momentum in the war after building up its forces there, Reuters reported.