ISTANBUL

Russia claimed on Wednesday that it took control of another settlement in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region amid its ongoing offensive in the eastern part of the war-torn country.

A statement by the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its forces seized the village of Verbove, situated about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) west of the village of Kalynivske, which Moscow claimed it took control of on Sept. 22.

The village is located just north, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles), of the administrative border between the Dnipropetrovsk region and Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

Ukrainian authorities have not immediately commented on Russia’s claim, and independent verification of the Russian Defense Ministry statement is difficult given that the war has been ongoing for three and a half years.