Russia today denied the Ukrainian announcement that Ukrainian forces recaptured the village of Andriivka in eastern Ukraine, a short distance from the city of Bakhmut.

“The enemy did not abandon plans to capture the city of Artyomovsk (s.b.: the Soviet name for Bakhmut) of the Donetsk People’s Republic and continued to carry out offensive operations … unsuccessfully trying to drive the Russian troops out of Klyshchivka and Andreyvka,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in its daily bulletin.

However, yesterday, Friday, the Ukrainian armed forces had reported that they “liberated Andrivka, in the Donetsk region”.

Today’s Russian denial adds to the confusion about the real situation in this small village, where before the war there lived about fifty inhabitants.

Speaking on Ukrainian television, Oleksandr Borodin, a representative of the brigade fighting in this area, said yesterday that Andriivka was “completely destroyed” by the hostilities. “Avdriivka no longer exists,” he had declared.