Russia claims capture of new east Ukraine villages: defence ministry 

In this image from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday (November 1, 2024), Russian soldiers attend combat training for assault units at an undisclosed location in Ukraine.
| Photo Credit: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Russia’s defence ministry on Saturday (November 2, 2024) claimed the capture of two new villages in eastern Ukraine as its troops advanced rapidly.

Russia has been making swift advances in the eastern Donetsk region for weeks, taking dozens of towns and villages.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces in the Donetsk region had “liberated” the large village of Kurakhivka close to the industrial town of Kurakhove, which Russia is also aiming to capture.

It likewise claimed the small village of Pershotravneve in the Kharkiv region, close to the eastern Lugansk region.

The Russian army took 478 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory in October, a record since the first weeks of the conflict in March 2022, according to an AFP analysis of data from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).