Russia says recaptured another village in eastern Ukraine

MOSCOW — Russia said on Saturday it had recaptured another village in eastern Ukraine, where it has made a string of advances.



"The locality of Zhelannoe Pervoe (Zhelanne Pershe in Ukrainian) was freed thanks to the active and decisive operations of the southern units," the defence ministry said.



The village is located in the Pokrovsk district, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army. 

Russian forces have advanced rapidly in the eastern region of Donetsk in recent weeks, putting pressure on a Ukrainian army that is short of both soldiers and weapons. 

The Kremlin regularly says its army has captured small villages in eastern Ukraine.



In a rarer announcement, it said on Tuesday it had captured a town in the region, called Krasnogorivka. 

On August 6, the Ukrainian army launched an incursion into Russia's border region of Kursk, advancing kilometres into Russian territory and seizing dozens of settlements. 

It hopes to force Moscow to redeploy troops from Donetsk to Kursk and hamper the Russian advance in Donetsk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday Kyiv had "slowed" Russia's progress. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that capturing the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, the industrial basin comprising Donetsk and Lugansk was his top priority.