Russia claims more advances in east Ukraine

Russia’s army said Wednesday it had captured two more villages in eastern Ukraine, the latest gains for its advancing troops.

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Moscow’s soldiers have claimed a series of territorial gains in the area over the course of 2024, pressing on even as Kyiv mounts its own cross-border offensive into Russian territory.

The defense ministry in Moscow said its troops had “liberated the settlements” of Gostre and Grigorivka in the Donetsk region, in a statement posted on Telegram.

Gostre is a small village located 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Donetsk city, the capital of a region Moscow claims to have annexed.

Grigorivka lies close to the hilltop town of Chasiv Yar, another key Russian target.

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Military correspondents have also reported that Ukraine faces a precarious situation in Vugledar, a former coal mining town further south in the Donetsk region where heavy fighting is underway.

“It is highly likely that Russian forces now threaten the town from three sides,” Britain’s defense intelligence unit said Wednesday.

The Institute for the Study of War said Tuesday that the possible “capture of Vugledar is unlikely to afford Russian forces any particular operational edge for further offensive operations”.

Ukraine’s General Staff did not respond to a request to comment on the situation in the town.

The Ukrainian brigade that holds the town and the larger command unit fighting in the region both declined to comment.

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