Russian army claims new advance in east Ukraine

MOSCOW: Russia said on Sunday its military had advanced further in east Ukraine, capturing a frontline village just a few kilometres north of a key Ukrainian-held industrial hub.

Moscow has made steady gains on the battlefield for months, pressing their advantage against overstretched and outmanned Ukrainian forces. Russian army units “liberated the settlement of Izmailovka,” the Russian defence ministry said in a daily briefing, using the Russian spelling for the village.

Izmailivka had a population of just under 200 people before the conflict. It lies eight kilometres north of the key industrial hub of Kurakhove and just a few kilometres north of Kurakhivka, a small town on a stretch of frontline Moscow is trying to surround.

The announcement came a few hours after Russia claimed it shot down 51 Ukrainian drones above several of its regions, including near the border. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday that Moscow would “respond” if the West allowed Ukraine to use longer-range weapons against his territory. “It´s too early to say yet, but of course our military department is thinking about it and will offer various responses,” Putin told a state TV reporter in remarks aired on Sunday.