A statement issued by the Russian defense ministry stated that their forces had captured the village of Stupochky and Otradne in Donetsk region. Further, they also captured Loknya, a village inside the Russian border in the Sumy region, Hindustan Times reported.
The general staff of Ukraine’s military have acknowledged no such losses. Ukraine also said Otradne is one of the several towns where Ukrainian troops had halted 18 frontline Russian attacks. It referred to Stupochky earlier this week as part of an area under Russian attack.
Since the Russian troops failed to advance on Kyiv in the first week of war, Russia has been focused on capturing the Donbas in the east, made up of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In recent months, Moscow has also tried to advance in the Sumy region, particularly after Russia’s military said it had ousted Ukrainian troops from the Russian border region of Kursk. For months, Ukraine has reported attempts by Russian forces to occupy areas of the Sumy region, but has never acknowledged the capture of any of them.
MNA
