Russia says it captures village in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine defending major town

Dec 26 (Reuters) – Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Friday it had captured a new village in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, while Ukraine’s military said that, despite errors, it was defending a larger town in the area.

Russian forces hold about 19% of Ukraine’s territory in the east and south and are engaged in a slow westward drive, announcing the capture of new villages several times a week.

The Russian ministry, writing on Telegram, said it had seized the village of Kosivtseve, north of the town of Huliaipole, which has come under severe Russian pressure in recent weeks.

It said Russian troops had taken more than 23 sq km (nine sq miles) of territory in securing the village, giving the “east” group of forces “a base for further offensive actions”.

Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield reports.

Ukraine’s military acknowledged that one of its units had committed errors in “an unfortunate incident”, when a group of three infiltrating Russian soldiers deceived them into abandoning a post in Huliaipole.

“There were enough of our fighters there to repel three Russian soldiers,” Dmytro Filatov, commander of the first separate assault regiment, told public broadcaster Suspilne.

“Instead of putting up resistance, offering a worthy fight, the command post was abandoned.”

Another unit, the 425th separate assault regiment, wrote on Telegram that its forces had entered Huliaipole and were clearing it of remaining Russian forces.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had deployed drones to prevent fresh Ukrainian troops from entering the town.

One of the focal points for Russia’s campaign has been the former logistics centre of Pokrovsk to the northeast.

One Ukrainian military Telegram channel said Ukrainian forces were in control of the northern part of the largely destroyed city and preventing Russian advances into the centre.

It said reinforcements had been sent to the nearby town of Myrnohrad. The Russian Defence Ministry said on Thursday its forces were clearing Ukrainian forces from Myrnohrad, known in Russian by its Soviet-era name, Dimitrov,

(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)