MOSCOW (Reuters) – The chief of Russia’s general staff, Valery Gerasimov, thanked Russian forces on Tuesday for capturing the village of Urozhaine in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russia’s Defence Ministry said.
Ukraine has offered no official comment on who controls the village, which was seized by Russian forces at the outset of the February 2022 invasion and recaptured by Ukraine last year.
Russian forces have captured a string of villages since seizing the strategic city of Avdiivka in Donetsk region in February. The region is the focal point of Russia’s slow advance through eastern Ukraine along the 1,000-km (600-mile) front.
Unofficial Ukrainian bloggers acknowledged that Ukrainian forces had relinquished control of Urozhaine. Bloggers also reported that Ukraine had fallen back from another contested village in Kherson region in the south.
Reuters could not independent verify accounts from either side.
The Russian Defence Ministry first announced the capture of Urozhaine on Sunday and its latest account said Gerasimov had heard a report from a commander of the “east” group of forces.
“Summing up the report, the chief of staff noted the success of the ‘east’ group in liberating the locality of Urozhaine and set new tasks for further activity,” the ministry said in a statement.
The report gave no further details.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces made no mention of Urozhaine in its late evening report, but reported fighting in two areas further north in Donetsk region.
Ukrainian war bloggers posted what they described as a Russian video showing Moscow’s forces planting a flag atop the Urozhaine administration building.
One Ukrainian military blog, Realna Viyna (Real War), said Ukrainian forces had pulled out of Urozhaine and the village of Krynky in southern Kherson region weeks ago.
Kherson region was occupied by Russian forces in the early days of the invasion, but Ukraine retook large swathes of the region several months later, including the highly publicised capture of Krynky on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River.
Russian forces have remained entrenched on the eastern bank and regularly shell parts of the region on the opposite bank.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Ron Popeski and Stephen Coates)
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