Russia captures two villages in Donbass. Putin speaks of a “just fight.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Monday that its troops had taken control of two towns in the Donetsk region of Ukraine—Shandryholove and Zarične, both northeast of Sloviansk, which Moscow has designated as one of the main targets of its western offensive.

The Ukrainian side did not officially comment on these specific losses, but President Volodymyr Zelensky reported progress in the Ukrainian counteroffensive near the town of Dobropillia, where Kyiv had recaptured around 175 square kilometers.

On the other hand, the well-known Ukrainian war blog DeepState confirmed that Ukrainian units had left the village of Poltavka in the same region.

Russia is advancing slowly and announcing the capture of new towns almost daily. However, according to Ukrainian and Western experts, these successes have come at the cost of high losses in terms of human lives and equipment.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described the advance of troops on Monday as a “just fight” and called for “national unity in the defense of the fatherland.”

(reuters, sie)