The Russian military has liberated the Donbass town of Ukrainsk, RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday, citing a source within the security forces. The news agency also said it had obtained photos of Russian soldiers raising a flag over a mine located on the western outskirts of the town.
The nation’s defense ministry has not commented on the development so far. It did not even mention Ukrainsk in its latest daily report on the situation on the frontlines. The town was mentioned in the ministry’s previous update, published on Monday, where it said that Moscow’s troops continued their offensive in the area, pushing Kiev’s troops away from their defensive positions and moving forward.
A town with a population of around 10,500 people, Ukrainsk is located about four kilometers away from the railroad junction of Tsukurikha, which, according to RIA, is used by Kiev to supply “a significant part” of its troops in Donbass.
According to the defense ministry’s data, the Russian forces repelled eight Ukrainian counterattacks in the area. Kiev lost up to 475 soldiers as well as five artillery pieces, including the US-made M777 howitzer during the fights at this part of the front over the past 24 hours.
Ukrainsk and the nearby town of Selidovo have become an arena of intense fighting over the past week as Russian forces continue to expand their zone of control to the west and southwest of Avdeevka – a key Donbass town taken by Moscow’s troops early this year. The Russian forces are now moving closer to the city of Pokrovsk, which is one of the key logistics hubs supplying the Ukrainian forces still remaining in the Donetsk People’s Republic.
Earlier, the defense ministry reported that the nation’s military had liberated eight settlements in the Donetsk People’s Republic in the week between September 7 and 13.
The developments come as Ukrainian forces still try to retain some control over Russia’s Kursk border region. Kiev sent thousands of troops across its northern border with Russia in August. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky touted the operation as part of a “victory plan” he intends to submit to the US government for consideration.
The Russian military started a major push to drive Ukrainian forces away from the area over the past weeks. Last week, Moscow reported liberating ten settlements in the Kursk Region. On Monday, the defense ministry reported liberating another two villages. Ukrainian casualties in the incursion reached 13,800, according to the ministry’s latest estimates.