Russian forces have captured two Ukrainian villages — Svitle in the eastern Donetsk region and Nova Sich in the northeastern Sumy region — the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday, as ground fighting intensified across multiple sectors of the 1,600-kilometer front line.
The claims could not be independently verified and Ukrainian officials did not immediately confirm the losses. But they come as Russian forces have maintained steady pressure along the Donetsk axis while probing Ukrainian defenses in the northeast near the border with Russia’s Bryansk and Kursk regions.
Svitle, a small settlement in Donetsk, lies near the strategic city of Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub for Ukrainian forces in the east. Nova Sich, in Sumy, is located close to the Russian border, an area where Moscow has stepped up cross-border incursions in recent weeks.
The ground advances coincide with intensified Ukrainian deep-strike operations targeting Russian energy and economic infrastructure. On Tuesday night, Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery and a Wildberries logistics center in Ryazan, part of a campaign to disrupt Russia’s wartime economy and supply chains.
On the southern front, Russia claimed its drones hit two vessels carrying weapons and military equipment east of the Ukrainian port of Odesa. Local Ukrainian officials reported damaged infrastructure but did not confirm the loss of any ships.
Civilian casualties mounted on both sides. In Ukraine’s Kherson region, a man was killed and three others wounded in a Russian drone attack, local authorities said. Five people, including a child, were injured in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where Russian forces carried out dozens of attacks using drones, aerial bombs and artillery.
In southern Russia, a woman was killed and a man injured when missile debris struck an apartment building in Taganrog, a city on the Sea of Azov that hosts industrial facilities and a major grain terminal, regional governor Yury Slyusar said.
Ukraine and Russia have both escalated attacks on vessels in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov in recent weeks, disrupting grain and oil trade routes. The intensifying naval confrontation has raised concerns about global food security, particularly for countries dependent on Black Sea grain shipments.
Analysts say Russia is pursuing a strategy of gradual territorial gains while absorbing Ukrainian deep strikes, betting that attrition will eventually favor its larger military and population. Ukraine, in turn, is betting that sustained economic pressure and rising costs will erode Russian public support for the war and force the Kremlin to the negotiating table.
“The war is entering a new phase where both sides are trying to impose unsustainable costs on the other,” said a senior European diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The question is which side breaks first.”
Author: Pulse Of Nations Wire Desk
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