MOSCOW: Russia said on Wednesday that it had captured two more frontline villages in Ukraine, including in the north-east Kharkiv region where its forces had been pushed back two years ago.
Russia has made a string of gains on the front in recent months, pressing its manpower and weapons advantage on the battlefield as Ukraine waits for critical supplies of Western aid.
The Russian defence ministry said its army units had “liberated the village of Kyslivka in the Kharkiv region” and “Novokalynove in the Donetsk People’s Republic”, AFP reported.
Kyslivka is nearly twenty from the embattled Ukrainian stronghold of Kupiansk, while Novokalynove is about ten kilometres north of Avdiivka, captured by Russia in February.
Officials in Kyiv are worried Moscow may be preparing a fresh offensive in the northeast, taking advantage of severe ammunition shortages in the Ukrainian military.
Ukraine’s Military Retreats in Three Villages
Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi acknowledged last month that Kyiv had pulled back from 3 villages and was building a new line of fortifications to defend the front.
Separately, the Russian defence ministry said it had carried out retaliatory attacks against Ukrainian energy and military facilities after Ukraine reported a wave of aerial strikes overnight.
