ISTANBUL
Russia claimed on Sunday that it took control of another settlement in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
A statement by the Russian Defense Ministry on Telegram claimed that its forces captured the village of Rybne, located about 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) north of the city of Huliaipole, a key front in the southeastern Ukrainian region.
The village is also around 36 kilometers (22.3 miles) west of the strategic town of Velyka Novosilka.
In January, Russia claimed to have seized Velyka Novosilka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. The town lies near the junction of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Rybne is situated near the administrative border between the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Earlier, Ukraine’s General Staff claimed that its forces repelled 18 Russian assaults near seven settlements in the Oleksandrivka front over the past day, including the village of Krasnohirske, situated less than a kilometer (0.6 miles) from Rybne.
However, Ukrainian authorities have not immediately commented on Russia’s claim, and independent verification of the claim is difficult due to the over three-and-a-half-year war.