Moscow reports gains in southeast Ukraine, Kiev silent for now

The Russian army on Sunday announced a significant advance in the southeastern part of Ukraine, where it captured the villages of Mala Tokmacka and Rivnopillya in the Zaporizhzhya region. These gains, according to Moscow, allow the cities of Hulyaipol and Orichiv to be threatened with encirclement.

The Ukrainian side has not yet commented on the situation. Russian troops have been advancing for several weeks along a broader front, with pro-Russian maps indicating that they have made gains of about 30 kilometers since the beginning of the summer.

Ukraine faces problems in securing sufficient defenders, particularly in Donetsk, where it must also maintain stability on the rest of the front. Russian attacks are supported by massive deployments of artillery and drones.

Moscow currently controls about 75 percent of Zaporizhzhya, including strategic positions, but the city of Zaporizhzhya, with a pre-war population of more than 700,000 people, remains under Ukrainian control.

(reuters, mja)