Russia says captured Sokil in east Ukraine
Published: 04:07 PM,Jul 06,2024 | EDITED : 08:07 PM,Jul 06,2024
People kneel as servicemen of the Ukrainian Honor Guard carry out the coffin, during the farewell ceremony in Kyiv. — AFP
MOSCOW: Russia on Saturday said its forces had captured a village in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, as Moscow continues to advance slowly across the battlefield.
The defence ministry said its troops 'liberated the village of Sokil', around 30 kilometres northwest of Donetsk city, the capital of the region by the same name that Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2022.
Kyiv says the fiercest fighting across the entire front line is taking place in the Donetsk region, where Russian troops are trying to eject Ukraine's forces.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday repeated his demand for Ukraine to totally withdraw from the region, along with three others in the south and east of the country, if it wants peace.
Moscow's forces have made modest advances on the battlefield this year, pushing against Kyiv's exhausted, outmanned and outgunned troops.
Multiple Russian attacks killed at least seven and wounded more than two dozen others in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine on Friday.
Moscow has centred its firepower on the industrial region, which it claims to have annexed and has been partially controlled by Kremlin-backed forces since 2014.
Russian-installed officials also said Ukrainian shelling killed five people on its side of the front line in the Donetsk region.
Two Russian strikes on the town of Selydove, which lies close to the front where Moscow's forces are advancing, killed at least five and injured eight, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said.
Meanwhile, Kyiv and its Western allies hit out at Hungarian leader Viktor Orban after Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted him in Moscow for talks on the Ukraine conflict.
Putin told Orban, Russia's closest EU ally, that Ukraine must withdraw its troops from regions that Moscow has annexed if it wants peace.
But Kyiv was 'not ready to drop the idea of waging war until a victorious end', he added, calling the talks at the Kremlin a 'really useful, frank conversation' on the conflict.
EU officials, the United States and Nato blasted the Hungarian prime minister's surprise trip.
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico offered a rare voice of support, saying he would have joined Orban had his health permitted after surviving an assassination attempt in May. — AFP
The defence ministry said its troops 'liberated the village of Sokil', around 30 kilometres northwest of Donetsk city, the capital of the region by the same name that Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2022.
Kyiv says the fiercest fighting across the entire front line is taking place in the Donetsk region, where Russian troops are trying to eject Ukraine's forces.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday repeated his demand for Ukraine to totally withdraw from the region, along with three others in the south and east of the country, if it wants peace.
Moscow's forces have made modest advances on the battlefield this year, pushing against Kyiv's exhausted, outmanned and outgunned troops.
Multiple Russian attacks killed at least seven and wounded more than two dozen others in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine on Friday.
Moscow has centred its firepower on the industrial region, which it claims to have annexed and has been partially controlled by Kremlin-backed forces since 2014.
Russian-installed officials also said Ukrainian shelling killed five people on its side of the front line in the Donetsk region.
Two Russian strikes on the town of Selydove, which lies close to the front where Moscow's forces are advancing, killed at least five and injured eight, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said.
Meanwhile, Kyiv and its Western allies hit out at Hungarian leader Viktor Orban after Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted him in Moscow for talks on the Ukraine conflict.
Putin told Orban, Russia's closest EU ally, that Ukraine must withdraw its troops from regions that Moscow has annexed if it wants peace.
But Kyiv was 'not ready to drop the idea of waging war until a victorious end', he added, calling the talks at the Kremlin a 'really useful, frank conversation' on the conflict.
EU officials, the United States and Nato blasted the Hungarian prime minister's surprise trip.
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico offered a rare voice of support, saying he would have joined Orban had his health permitted after surviving an assassination attempt in May. — AFP