Russia’s military announced on Sunday that its forces had taken control of two additional settlements in eastern Ukraine, specifically one in the Donetsk region and the other in Kharkiv.
The statements indicated the villages of Piddubne in Donetsk and Sobolivka in Kharkiv are now under Russian control, though the Ukrainian side has not yet acknowledged this.
Piddubne had an estimated pre-war population of about 500 and is located merely 4 miles from the Dnipropetrovsk oblast border.
As for, Sobolivka, it lies about two miles west of Kupiansk and is outside of areas previously claimed by Russia, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a couple of social media posts that its troops had “liberated” the settlements, and made reference to “Poddubnoye” and “Sobolevka” – according to the Russian spellings.
According to analysis presented in AFP, this marks the third straight month of Russian forces’ advance in Ukraine’s east, after stagnant front lined during the winter.
“Russia’s military advance in June accelerated for a third consecutive month and made its largest advance since November, according to AFP’s analysis of data from US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW),” AFP writes.
“The Russian army took 588 square kilometers (227 square miles) of Ukrainian territory in June, compared with 507 square kilometers in May, 379 square kilometers in April, and 240 square kilometers in March, according to ISW data,” the publication adds.
Drone assaults from both sides continues to be a feature of the war, with Russia just days ago having unleashed an unprecedented 500 drones on Ukraine.
Kiev was targeted again overnight Friday, and the next day the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said the number of people killed had increased to two, with an additional 31 people wounded.
Hellbound and Down 