Russian officials have said Kiev’s attack on the Kursk region would fail to drive Russian forces away from Ukraine’s eastern region. File. | Photo credit: Reuters
Russian forces have taken control of the Kirov settlement, known as Varazemske in Ukraine, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday.
Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia says it has occupied although it does not fully control all of them, a territorial claim that Kiev and the West reject as illegal and which Ukraine has vowed to overturn by force.
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Russia has been making steady gains in the region at a time when Ukrainian troops are seeking to advance into Russia’s Kursk region following a surprise cross-border offensive that began on August 6.
Moreover, the Defence Ministry said in a bulletin on developments in Russia’s Kursk region that its forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks there, including assaults on the settlements of Korenevo and Malaya Loknya.
Russian officials have said Kiev’s attack on the Kursk region would fail to dislodge Russian forces from the eastern part of Ukraine, where they are still advancing.
Officials also say Ukraine’s entry into Russian territory would trap thousands of its troops in a new front that has little strategic or tactical value.