Russia Russian troops report further advance in Donbass

Russian troops have announced a further advance in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. The town of Krasnohorivka (Russian: Krasnogorovka) north-west of the regional capital Donetsk, which has been annexed by Moscow, has been almost completely conquered with the exception of a few streets, the state news agency Tass reported, citing military sources.

According to the report, Ukrainian soldiers also surrendered and were taken prisoner. Many civilians were still in the city, some of whom had already been taken to safety elsewhere in the Donbass, it said. The Russian information could not be independently verified.

Russian troops had previously reported tactical successes in other parts of the Donetsk region. Russia's war aim is to take complete control of the Donbass region in the east of the country, which is known for its coal deposits.

The pro-government Ukrainian military channel Deep State confirmed the Russian advance in Krasnohorivka and other areas on the Telegram platform. For example, the village of Progress in the Pokrovsk district of the Donetsk region, which has been embattled for three months, has been occupied by Russian troops.

Within two days, the enemy had succeeded in winning the battles that had been going on since the second half of April. According to the report, the Russian troops began a massive assault on July 19. The Ukrainian forces were said to have withdrawn.

There was no official confirmation in Kiev of the territorial losses. On Sunday, the armed forces of both sides reported the shooting down of numerous drones by the enemy.

Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for more than two years with Western military aid. Around a fifth of the country is occupied by Russian troops. Russia had declared the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson to be its territories in violation of international law - but has no complete control over any of them.