Russia captures two frontline villages in Ukraine: Moscow

Russia has said that its forces captured two frontline villages in Ukraine, Andriivka in the eastern Luhansk region and Pishchane in the northeast Kharkiv region.

Russian army units "liberated" the settlements of Andriivka and Pishchane "as well as occupied more favourable lines and positions," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The two villages are less than 20 kilometres from each other on a section of the frontline where Moscow has made grinding advances in recent weeks.

Andriivka, a village of fewer than 20 people, was one of the last settlements in the eastern Luhansk region that Kiev still controlled and had been a key target for Moscow.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, Pishchane has also been in the Kremlin's sights because its capture could pave the way for Russia to reach the Oskil river which lies about 10 kilometres away.

Moscow claims to have taken a string of villages and settlements, many consisting of no more than a few streets and a handful of abandoned buildings, in recent weeks.

Neither side has been able to achieve a decisive breakthrough and both Moscow and Kiev say they are inflicting heavy casualties on the other, almost two and a half years after the war.