Russia Claims Capture of Three Villages as War Grinds On

Russia announced on Saturday that its forces had seized three villages in eastern Ukraine, pressing forward in a slow and costly campaign marked by relentless battles.

Fighting remains intense as Russian troops push meter by meter through shattered landscapes where few residents remain and most buildings lie in ruins. According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, Moscow has gained about 0.8 percent of Ukraine’s total territory since the start of the year.

The ministry said its forces captured the villages of Derylove and Maiske in the Donetsk region and took control of Stepove in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Ukraine reported that a Russian overnight barrage killed one person and wounded 12 in the Kherson region. The strikes also damaged railway infrastructure in neighboring Odesa.

Russia said a Ukrainian drone attack forced an oil pumping station in the Chuvashia republic to suspend operations, highlighting Kyiv’s ongoing campaign to hit energy facilities deep inside Russian territory. Ukrainian officials have described these strikes as both retaliation for Moscow’s bombardments and an effort to choke off the energy revenues that sustain Russia’s war machine.

Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, now approaching its fourth year, remain stalled. US President Donald Trump recently suggested Ukraine could eventually reclaim all of its occupied land, while Russia vowed to continue its offensive.