Russian troops have advanced near three eastern Ukrainian cities, approaching the strategic city of Pokrovsk, Russian and Ukrainian bloggers reported, cited by Reuters.
The DeepState group, which analyzes the situation on the battlefield and maintains close ties with the Ukrainian military, said on Telegram that Russian forces had advanced in the area of the coal-mining town of Selidovo in the Donetsk region, marking on a map the positions of Russian troops in the southeastern part of the city.
Russian forces have been attacking Selidovo for a week, and its capture would open the way for an advance on the logistics hub of Pokrovsk, located 20 km to the northwest, Russian publication SHOT reported, adding that Moscow already controls 80 percent of the city.
The Russian-appointed governor of Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, said the Russian flag was flying on the roof of a building in the nearby town of Gornyak, about 14 km south of Selidovo, according to the state-run RIA news agency.
Russian military bloggers add that Moscow’s forces are close to capturing the town of Kurakhovo, located southwest of Gornyak. There is still no official comment from Ukraine on these claims. On Saturday, Ukrainian armed forces said they had repelled 36 Russian front-line attacks in the Pokrovsk region, including around Selidovo, and that several battles were ongoing.
The National Police of Ukraine reports that two civilians were killed and 13 others were injured in the Donetsk region, including four policemen.
“70 civilian sites were damaged, including 22 residential buildings,” the statement said.
It follows that one person died in the front-line town of Konstantinovka, on which two FAB-250 aerial bombs were dropped, and another died in the town of Nikolaevka.
The Russian military has not commented on the report, and the BBC could not independently confirm it.
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