Ukrainian forces have recaptured a strategic village in the Russian-occupied southeast, as their troops continue a southbound advance in a summer counteroffensive.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that troops had reclaimed the village of Staromayorske in the Donetsk region. It is the first major gain in days. Battles are continuing around Bakhmut for the villages of Klishchiivka and Andriivka.
“The 35th brigade and the Ariy territorial defense unit have fulfilled their task and liberated the village of Staromayorske. Glory to Ukraine!” a soldier said in a video posted on Zelenskyy’s Telegram.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar also confirmed the liberation of the village in a Telegram post. “Our defenders continue to clear the settlement,” she posted Thursday evening.
Overnight, Russia shot down an attempted drone attack directed at Moscow, the city’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel.
“At night, an attempt was made to attack [by] an enemy drone, which was shot down by the forces of the Ministry of Defense. No damage or casualties,” he posted in the early hours of Friday.
Earlier this week, several drones struck Moscow, damaging buildings in the vicinity of the defense ministry in the Russian capital, in an attack that Russia blamed on Ukraine. Ukrainian military officials did not deny or confirm that they carried out the attacks, but local media, citing their own sources, said that it was Ukraine’s military intelligence.
Veronika Melkozerova in Kyiv contributed reporting.
