Russia claims to capture 4 settlements in Ukraine

Russian forces have taken control of four settlements in eastern Ukraine over the past week and carried out a series of large-scale strikes on Ukrainian military and infrastructure targets, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday.

In a statement, the ministry said the villages of Karaichne and Budarky in the Kharkiv region, as well as Novopidhorodnie and Lisne in the Dnipropetrovsk region, came under Russian control.

The ministry also said Russian forces conducted one large-scale and five coordinated strikes between May 23 and 29 using high-precision air-, sea- and ground-launched weapons, as well as attack drones.

The attacks targeted enterprises linked to Ukraine's defense industry, fuel and energy facilities, transport and port infrastructure used by the military, air bases, drone assembly and storage sites, as well as temporary deployment points for Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries, the ministry said.

Moscow said the strikes were carried out in response to Ukrainian attacks on civilian facilities inside Russia.

Earlier this week, Russia urged foreign diplomats to leave Kyiv ahead of what it described as a new wave of strikes on the Ukrainian capital. The warning was largely dismissed by Western officials and diplomats.

Ukraine responded with drone attacks, hitting two important oil facilities in Russia's Yaroslavl and Volgograd regions. According to regional authorities, two civilians were killed in the strike in Volgograd.

Officials in Russia's Krasnodar region also said an air raid sparked a fire at the port of Temryuk.

The Russian Defense Ministry said 208 drones were intercepted across the country overnight.

Ukraine has not commented on the claims. Independent verification of battlefield reports remains difficult because of the ongoing conflict.