Russia’s Defence Ministry on Friday said that its forces had taken control of the villages of Nadiivka, Novosilka and Novoocheretuvate in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Russia, even as it embarks on talks with the United States on ending the war, continued to make slow but steady gains in Donetsk.
Donetsk is a heavily urban and industrial region, parts of which have been controlled by Russian proxies since 2014.
Recall that Russia declared in September 2022 that it had incorporated Donetsk and three other Ukrainian regions as part of its own territory.
This is even as its forces did not fully control them, a move condemned as illegal by most countries at the United Nations.