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| Pro-Russian separatists walk past an abandoned tank on a road between separatist-held Mykolaivka (Nikolayvka) and Buhas (Bugas) in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. March 1, 2022 | Photo: Reuters |
Russian troops have captured another village in Ukraine, Vozdvizhenka, in the eastern Donetsk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday, citing the Interfax news agency.
Earlier on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the capture of two more settlements in Ukraine. One of them is called Itropavlivka. It is a settlement between the cities of Pokrovsk and Kurakhov in the Donetsk region. The fighting in this area has been going on for several months.
On Saturday, Russian troops also captured the settlement of Vremivka in the Donetsk region, a cluster of settlements made up of several small towns.
Reuters could not independently verify Russia's claims of new Ukrainian villages and settlements.
Russia has been trying to capture the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine's Donbas region since the war began in February 2022. So far, they have captured about 20 percent of Ukraine's territory.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has claimed to have shot down 43 drones launched by Russia. The Ukrainian Air Force made this claim on Sunday.
They claim that Russia launched 61 drones targeting Ukraine on Saturday night. Of these, 43 were shot down by air defense systems.
It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties in these drone attacks or the downing of the drones.