MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s defense ministry said on Saturday the army had taken control of the Shevchenko settlement, near the logistical center of Pokrovsk, a key Russian target in its advance into the eastern Donetsk region. in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military did not mention the village in its latest account of front-line activity, but said Russia had launched more than 50 attacks against its force positions near Pokrovsk in the past 24 hours.

The Russian military report said “decisive action” by its forces led to the capture of Shevchenko, located about 3 km (2 miles) west of Pokrovsk.

The report also said that Russian troops launched strikes carried out by aircraft, drones and missiles on Ukrainian military aircraft and energy infrastructure serving its army.

The report did not provide further details on the attacks.

Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces repelled 46 of 56 Russian attacks around a dozen towns in the Pokrovsk sector. Ten battles are still going on.

The governor of the part of Donetsk region held by Ukrainian forces, Vadym Filashkin, said one resident was killed and four were wounded when a village north of Pokrovsk came under Russian attack.

Russian forces have been steadily advancing west of the Donetsk region for months, marking their fastest advance since the Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia’s RIA news agency released what it said was the first report from one of the journalists from Kurakhove, another logistics center south of Pokrovsk.

The Russian military announced the arrest of Kurakhove earlier this week.

Ukraine has not yet acknowledged the loss of the city, but the popular Ukrainian blog DeepState, which collects information from open sources, says the city is in Russian hands.