Mapped: Russia claims to have captured two Ukrainian villages as it advances in Donetsk

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Louise Thomas

Editor

Russia has claimed further advances in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk as fears spread Moscow could capture a key city in the area.

The Russian defence ministry has claimed Moscow’s forces have captured the settlements of Zolota Nyva and Zhelanna Pershe.

The communities have an estimated population of a few hundred residents each but they lie to the north and south of the town of Kurakhove, one of the focal points of military activity on the eastern front.

While the Kremlin often prematurely or falsely claims control of settlements, Ukrainian war tracker DeepState, known to have close ties to the military, reported that Zhelanna Pershe had been occupied. They suggest Zolota Nyva is being held by Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine’s military last referred to Zolota Nyva on Sunday as one of two villages coming under a series of Russian assaults.

Below, The Independent looks at the state of the frontline, particularly in the east.

Since Russian forces captured the strategic town of Vuhledar at the start of October, Moscow’s troops have continued to push in multiple directions in the Donetsk region.

The region makes up one half of Donbas - the other half is Luhansk, which is almost entirely controlled by Russia - and has been the site of fighting between Russia and Ukraine since 2014.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has made no secret of his desire to control the entire Donbas.

In its latest update, the general staff of the Ukrainian military said Russian forces had carried out 89 attacks across three broad fronts in Donetsk in the last 24 hours.

Those three fronts are aimed at the cities of Toretsk, Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.

In the past few months, Russian forces have taken nearly 300 square miles of territory towards Pokrovsk, with Kurakhove to the south of this bulge and Toretsk to the north.

A spokesperson for the Operational Tactical Group ‘Luhansk’, which is fighting for Toretsk, told Ukraine’s national broadcaster at the start of this week that the situation in the city is “unstable”.

“Fighting is taking place literally at every entrance,” the spokesperson said. They added that the Russians “have entered the eastern outskirts of the city”.

In their update this morning, the Ukrainian military said it had been attacked a dozen times in the last day.

Towards Kurakhove, Russian forces appear to be pushing towards the north of the city through Zhelanna Pershe. While the reports that Russia had captured Zolota Nyva appear inaccurate, it appears they are also pushing upwards to Kurakhove through the recently-captured Vuhledar.

Further north, between Kurakhove and Pokrovsk, Russian forces also recently captured the town of  Tsukuryne.

Images published on Wednesday showed some of the last remaining citizens in Kurakhove readying to leave, with Russian troops just a couple of miles to the southeast.

The Ukrainian military update said there had been 40 Russian attacks repelled in that direction in the last 24 hours. They added that there had been 37 attacks towards Pokrovsk, though that line has been relatively static compared to either side of the bulge.

If Kurakhove falls, however, it could allow the Russians to refocus its efforts on capturing Pokrovsk, a linchpin of the defence of the wider Donetsk region, according to the Centre for Defence Strategies (CDS), a Ukrainian security think tank with ties to the defence ministry.

“If Kurakhove is captured, Russian forces could consolidate control … and free up a significant portion of soldiers to advance on the main direction, namely Pokrovsk,” they wrote.