Russia says captured another village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region

Russia’s army said Friday that its forces had captured another village in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk, where it has been advancing against Kyiv’s stretched military.

After months of stalemate, Moscow has seized control of dozens of settlements in eastern Ukraine this year, where Kyiv’s shortages in manpower and ammunition have started to bite.

“During the past week, units of the Southern group of troops improved their positions along the front line and liberated the settlement of Paraskoviivka,” Russia’s defense ministry said in a daily briefing.

The village is around 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of the city of Donetsk, capital of the region that Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that the fiercest fighting was taking place in the Donetsk region.

Russia launched a major ground assault last month on the Kharkiv border region, around 300 kilometers (185 miles) to the north.

Analysts said Moscow’s strategy could be to try to thin out Ukraine’s defenses to allow Russian forces to punch through in other areas of the battlefield.