Russia claims capture of two villages in Ukraine's Donetsk region
Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territory faces further challenges with ongoing heavy fighting in the Donetsk region as Moscow claims new advancements while Kiev denies losses.
Russia pushes westward, capturing villages and facing fierce Ukrainian resistance. / Photo: Reuters
Russian forces have taken over the villages of Spirne and Novooleksandrivka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, the Russian defence ministry has said.
The ministry, in a brief statement on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday, said its forces have also improved their positions along the frontline around the villages.
Spirne is located in the east of the Donetsk region, close to the border with Ukraine's Luhansk region.
The village of Novooleksandrivka lies about 130 km (80 miles) west of Spirne.
Ukraine's General Staff said in its daily statement on the situation on the battlefield that "heavy fighting" was taking place in the area around the villages, but it did not report any losses.
Donetsk is one of four regions in Ukraine's east and south that Russia claimed to have annexed in late 2022 in a move condemned as illegal by most countries at the UN General Assembly.
Russia does not fully control any of the four regions.
Ukraine strike kills child
A Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday killed a 4-year-old in a car in southern Russia's Belgorod region, the regional governor said.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the car carrying the girl, her parents and grandparents came under attack in an area close to the Ukrainian border.
The car's other passengers were also injured, with the girl's grandfather in serious condition.
Gladkov also said three localities in the region, all near the border town of Shebekino, had been shelled by Ukrainian forces, but he reported no casualties.
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