In recent weeks, Moscow has claimed to have gained control of a number of settlements in the Donetsk region, many of which just have a few streets.
Tuesday saw the Russian military announce that they had taken control of a second hamlet in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine.
The village of Pivdenne, which is outside of Toretsk, a larger town that Russian soldiers have been moving toward in recent months, has been “liberated,” according to the ministry of defense.
Based on estimates from the Ukrainian government, the hamlet had a population of about 1,400 when Russia began its full-scale military operation in 2022.
In recent weeks, Moscow has claimed to have gained control of a number of settlements in the Donetsk region, many of which just have a few streets.
Russia claimed to have annexed the Donetsk region — along with three others in eastern and southern Ukraine — in 2022, despite not fully controlling it.
Its forces have been closing in on Toretsk, a town that was once home to around 30,000 people, in its latest assault.
Pivdenne — which Russia referred to by its former name of Leninske — is around six kilometres (four miles) southeast of Toretsk.