Russia Claims Capture of Two Ukrainian Villages Amid Ongoing Conflict

Moscow's defense ministry announced Tuesday that Russian forces have seized control of villages in Ukraine's Sumy and Donetsk regions. The claims come as both sides dispute territorial advances along the extensive frontline in the ongoing four-year conflict.

MOSCOW – Russia’s defense ministry announced Tuesday that its military forces have seized two Ukrainian settlements, marking the latest territorial claims in the ongoing conflict that has stretched into its fourth year.

According to Moscow officials, Russian troops now control Sopych village in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region and Kalenyky in the eastern Donetsk area. The announcement came one day after both nations made competing assertions about which side was gaining ground along the extensive 1,250-kilometer (775-mile) battle zone.

“The armed forces of the Russian Federation liberated the settlement of Kalenyky in (Donetsk) as well as establishing control over the settlement of Sopych in Sumy region,” the ministry stated in a Telegram message.

Top Russian military commander Valery Gerasimov provided an update Monday regarding his forces’ progress, indicating that troops were working to create protective buffer areas within the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

The village of Sopych sits directly on Russia’s border within Sumy region, an area where Moscow’s military has spent months attempting to gain a foothold.

Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne reported last week, citing the former director of the nation’s foreign intelligence service, that Russian soldiers had entered Kalenyky and forcibly relocated 19 local residents across the border into Russian territory.

Kalenyky’s location places it to the east of Sloviansk, a heavily fortified city that has become a key defensive position. Gerasimov stated in his military briefing that Russian forces were “actively moving towards Sloviansk.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy countered Moscow’s claims Monday, asserting that his nation’s military had successfully thwarted a planned Russian assault. He stated the attack’s intensity fell short of “what Russia had planned and what its command promised to Russia’s political leadership.”

Russia’s defense ministry also reported intercepting 35 Ukrainian unmanned aircraft between 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. (1000-1700 GMT) in their most recent operational summary, with the majority shot down over the Krasnodar region along Ukraine’s eastern frontier.