Russian forces capture new village in Donetsk region, Ukraine acknowledges fighting

(Reuters) – Russia’s military said on Sunday that its forces had taken control of the village of Vyshneve in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region as they pursue their advance toward the logistical centre of Pokrovsk.

Ukraine’s General Staff made no mention of the village falling into Russian hands, but reported fighting in the vicinity.

Popular Ukrainian war blog DeepState acknowledged the loss of Vyshneve and said Russian forces were moving on an adjacent village.

Ukraine’s General Staff, in an afternoon report on Facebook, said Russian forces had launched 19 attacks on the Pokrovsk sector of the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line in eastern Ukraine.

“In containing the pressure, the defence forces repelled enemy attacks,” it said. “The occupying forces are focusing their efforts on the villages of Promin and Vyshneve.”

DeepState said Russian forces were “becoming active near Hryhorivka,” a village west of Vyshneve on the way to Pokrovsk.

“They are trying, with infantry, to advance in forested areas along a rail line and they wanted to move into the village and gain a foothold,” it said. “Fortunately, this attempt was unsuccessful.”

Vyshneve is near Selydove, a major town whose capture was announced by the Russian military last week. On Saturday, the Russian defence ministry said it had captured two other villages on the eastern front.

Russian forces have focused on taking over all the Donbas – made up of Donetsk and Luhansk regions – after making an initial unsuccessful push on the capital Kyiv in the days after their February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In September, Russian forces advanced at their fastest rate since March 2022, according to open source data, despite Ukraine seizing a part of Russia’s southern Kursk region.