Russia's military said Friday that it captured two villages in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, pushing closer to the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region.
Moscow has made small but steady territorial gains in eastern Ukraine since last summer, with recent advances coming as U.S. President Donald Trump opens direct talks with Moscow.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces seized the village of Nadezhdynka, located around 10 kilometers (six miles) east of the Donetsk-Dnipropetrovsk regional border. It also claimed control of Novosilka, a village further south.
Moscow intends to gain full control of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions — territories it claims to have annexed in September 2022.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 with an unsuccessful attempt to seize Kyiv before being pushed back by Ukrainian forces. It has since scaled down its objectives, focusing on consolidating control over Ukraine's south and east.
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