Image used for representative purpose only.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Russia on Sunday said its forces had captured another village in Ukraine‘s eastern Donetsk region, the latest modest territorial gain for its advancing forces.

Russian troops had “liberated the village of Chigari” in the Donetsk region, the Defence Ministry said in a daily briefing posted on social media.

On Saturday, Moscow said its forces had taken control of another small village in the same region, where Kyiv says the fiercest fighting across the entire front line is taking place.

Russia has made a string of battlefield advances since the start of the year, beginning with the capture of industrial hub Avdiivka in February.

But its progress has been grinding as the conflict looks locked in an attritional phase, with neither side able to punch a decisive breakthrough and both saying they are inflicting heavy casualties on the other.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday repeated his demand for Ukraine to totally withdraw from the region, along with three others in the south and east of the country, if it wants peace.

This drone footage obtained by The Associated Press shows the village of Ocheretyne, a target for Russian forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
| Photo Credit: AP

Russia said on Sunday its armed forces had seized the village of Ocheretyne in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the latest in a string of small territorial gains for Moscow.

After capturing the nearby industrial hub of Avdiivka in February, Russia has pressed its manpower and weapons advantage on the battlefield, advancing several kilometres deeper into Ukraine in places.

The Defence Ministry said Russian troops had “completely liberated the village of Ocheretyne in the Donetsk People’s Republic”.

Ocheretyne is around 15 km northwest of Avdiivka.

Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky said last week that Kyiv had pulled back from three villages in the eastern Donetsk region and was building a new line of fortifications.

Kyiv has struggled amid delays to vital Western weapons supplies in recent months and hopes the arrival of US arms will help it stabilise the front lines.