KYIV, Jul 7: Russia said Monday it captured its first village in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region after grinding towards the border for months, dealing a physchological blow for Kyiv as its worries mount.
Moscow launched a fresh large-scale drone and missile barrage before the announcement, including on Ukraine's army recruitment centres, as part of an escalating series of attacks that come as ceasefire talks led by the United States stall.
The Russian defence ministry said its forces captured the village of Dachne in the Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial mining territory that has also come under mounting Russian air attacks.
Russian forces appear to have made crossing the border a key strategic objective over recent months, and deeper advances into the region could pose logistics and economic problems for Kyiv.
Kyiv has so far denied any Russian foothold in Dnipropetrovsk.
Moscow first said last month its forces had crossed the border, more than three years since launching its invasion and pushing through the neighbouring Donetsk region. "AFP
