Moscow:

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Monday that its forces had taken control of two villages in eastern Ukraine.

It was the second day in succession that Moscow has announced the capture of new localities. Ukrainian military statements have, at least in part, denied the Russian assertion.

The Russian ministry said in a statement that its forces were in control of the settlement of Stepova Novoselivka in Kharkiv region, and of Novopokrovske in Donetsk region.

The General Staff of the Ukraine’s Armed Forces, in an evening report, said its troops had repelled 17 attacks in the Kupiansk sector near Kharkiv, including by Stepova Novoselivka. It said fighting was raging near Synkivka, further west.

Russia has announced a string of incremental gains since capturing the city of Avdiivka in Donetsk region in February.

Donetsk and Kharkiv regions remain focal points along the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line in Ukraine’s east and south.

The Ukrainian military earlier said it had repelled Russian attacks near two towns in Donetsk region — Novooleksandrivka and Spirne, a day after Russian forces claimed control of them. The evening report said fighting continued near both localities.

The evening report identified the Pokrovsk front as the theatre of the fiercest fighting. Forty-four Russian assaults had been repelled in the last 24 hours, with 14 clashes still going on.

The military said Russia maintained a military presence across the border from Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv and Sumy regions, adding that Moscow’s forces were increasing the density of minefields and conducting sabotage activities.

That area is under scrutiny for any sign that Russia plans to open a new front to pressure Ukraine’s outnumbered defenders.

Russia launched an assault into the border areas of the northeastern region of Kharkiv in May, opening a new front in 28-month full-scale invasion.

The latest Ukrainian report said Kyiv’s troops controlled the area and turned back 11 Russian assaults near three towns, including Vovchansk, 5 km (3 miles) from the border.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Russian-installed authorities began holding regional elections on Thursday in parts of Ukraine Russia claimed as its own last year, seeking to cement Moscow’s authority in what it calls its “new territories” despite the ongoing conflict.

Russia does not fully control any of the four regions where the votes are being held – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Along with Crimea – annexed by Moscow in 2014 – they make up almost a fifth of Ukraine.

Three quarters of countries at the United Nations General Assembly condemned what they termed Russia’s “attempted illegal annexation” of the four regions in a vote last October.

Ukrainian officials say the elections are also illegal and show why it is impossible to hold any peace talks with Moscow until Russia withdraws all its troops from Ukrainian territory.

In all four regions, Moscow’s handpicked governors, a mix of veteran pro-Russian politicians and others known only locally, are seeking full terms of office in the polls, which conclude on Sept. 10, when Russia holds regional polls.

The governors are all running with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s endorsement having joined the Kremlin’s United Russia bloc with fanfare in recent months and they face only nominal opposition.

In the Donetsk region port city of Mariupol, which was taken by Russia in May 2022 after a grinding, months-long siege, Reuters saw electoral officials set up a temporary polling booth on Thursday in the courtyard of a residential complex.

A trickle of residents came out to cast their ballots, showing newly-distributed Russian passports to officials while police officers stood by.

Many people have fled Russian-occupied territory, which has suffered some of the worst damage of the conflict.

The exiled Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boichenko, told Reuters people from the city, which he escaped on Feb 26, 2022, two days after Russia’s invasion, had told him there were no voter lists and no candidate lists.

“It is clear that there is no trust from the people toward this process, which should be called a sham election,” he said in an interview in Kyiv, adding that he expected a repeat of what he said had happened in annexation votes last year.

“They (Russian-installed officials) are going to walk from apartment to apartment, as they did before, talking to people. There are two soldiers standing nearby, carrying machine guns, and they tell the people that they must vote,” he said.

Reuters could not immediately verify his account.

MOSCOW EXPECTS BIG WIN

Voting also began on Thursday in the Zaporizhzhia region, whose Russian-installed governor Yevgeny Balitsky held talks with Putin in August shown on state television in which he said said the province would return an emphatically pro-Kremlin vote.

“We are sure that United Russia will receive the result it deserves in the elections,” said Balitsky, a former pro-Russian MP in the Ukrainian parliament whose region is at the forefront of the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive. Only around 80% of it is controlled by Russia.

Russian-installed authorities in the four regions extended voting over multiple days, saying it was necessary to reduce danger to voters.

Data published by a Kremlin-controlled pollster in early August showed United Russia candidates drawing at least 80% of the vote across all four regions. According to independent Russian news site iStories, only around half of United Russia’s candidates in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions are locals, with the balance being drawn from Russia itself.

Last year, Moscow said the four territories returned overwhelming votes in favour of annexation by Russia, in “referendums” Ukraine and its Western allies said were fraudulent.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)