MOSCOW: Russian assault units have advanced in the northern part of the embattled Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk and have taken a village to the south of the Ukrainian town of Siversk, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Thursday.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield claims, and the Ukrainian military said it had thwarted 57 Russian assaults on the Pokrovsk front in the past day and was destroying Russian units inside the city.
Russian forces are pushing forward at several points along the front line, especially in the Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, as the United States discusses a possible peace plan to end the deadliest European conflict since World War Two.
Moscow says taking Pokrovsk, dubbed "the gateway to Donetsk" by Russian media, would give it a platform to drive north towards the two biggest remaining Ukrainian-controlled cities in the Donetsk region - Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Russian maps show Pokrovsk under Moscow's control and Ukrainian troops encircled in neighbouring Myrnohrad. Ukrainian maps show Pokrovsk as a grey zone under no side's control and Myrnohrad as not being fully surrounded.
The Russian Defence Ministry said units from Russia's 2nd Army were advancing in central and northern Pokrovsk and that its forces had advanced to the east, west and south of Myrnohrad.
{{/usCountry}}The Russian Defence Ministry said units from Russia's 2nd Army were advancing in central and northern Pokrovsk and that its forces had advanced to the east, west and south of Myrnohrad.
{{/usCountry}}It said Russian forces had also taken the village of Vasiukivka, to the south east of the town of Siversk, around which Russian forces are also trying to execute a pincer movement.
Russia last year changed its battlefield tactics. Instead of frontal assaults on cities, it started to develop pincer movements around several key places in an effort to reduce casualties and force Kyiv to either withdraw its troops or risk encirclement.
Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had also penetrated Ukrainian lines north of Huliaipole in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.