Russia claims two more east Ukrainian villages

MOSCOW: Russia on Sunday claimed two more east Ukrainian villages as its forces have had the upper hand over Kyiv on the battlefield for months.

Moscow has claimed new villages in the east of Ukraine regularly for weeks, as outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian forces struggle to hold them back.

Russia´s defence ministry said its forces had “liberated the settlement” of Novooleksandrivka as the Russian army pushes further westwards into the Donetsk region.

The village -- which lies north-west of occupied Ocheretyne -- is now the most western point of the region that Moscow holds.

Moscow also said its forces captured the small village of Spirne, further north in the Donetsk region near the border with the neighbouring Lugansk region.

Moscow´s Ukraine offensive has dragged on for nearly two and a half years.Meanwhile, Ukraine´s southern Zaporizhzhia region declared a day of mourning on Sunday, a day after a Russian strike on the town of Vilniansk killed seven people and wounded three dozen.Russia struck Vilniansk, close to the regional hub of Zaporizhzhia, on Saturday.

“June 30 is a day of mourning in Zaporizhzhia region for those killed in the enemy attack on Vilniansk,” local governor Ivan Fedorov said on social media.