Russian forces today advanced along the front line in Ukraine, seizing a village in the region of Donetskgaining better positions in the Kharkiv region and repelling a series of Ukrainian attacks, the Russian Defense Ministry announced.

Russia controls about 18% of Ukraine- in the eastern and southern part- and has gained territories since Kiev’s 2023 counteroffensive failed to make any serious headway against Russian troops.

President Vladimir Putin had in February ordered the Russian military to advance further into Ukraine after the fall of the city of Avdiivka, where he said Ukrainian troops were forced to leave amid chaos. Ukraine had declared at the time that its army had withdrawn from Avdiivka.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the Russian army captured the village of Semenifka southwest of Avdiivka. Russia announced that it had crushed Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries in some villages in the region.

Russia also reported crushing Ukrainian troops in the Shinkivka areas of the Kharkiv region and other points along the front line. It also said it hit drone manufacturing labs.

The general staff of Ukraine announced that Ukrainian troops repelled enemy attacks near Seminyafka and reported that his troops had repelled a series of other Russian attacks

Reuters was unable to immediately verify accounts of the fighting from either side. Both sides have imposed restrictions on journalists covering the conflict.

On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had captured Novobakhmutivka, another village near Ocheretine that has become the focus of clashes in recent days.

“Russian forces will continue to successfully make tactical gains in the direction of Avdiivka in the coming weeks,” said the Institute for the Study of War, a research organization that says it is committed to helping achieve strategic US targets.

“The next line of defended settlements in the area is some distance from the Ukrainian defense line that Russian forces have been attacking since they captured Avdiivka in mid-February 2024,” the Institute said.