Russia on Wednesday claimed that it took control of two more settlements in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region where it is said to have continued to advance along multiple fronts A statement by the Defense Ministry said its forces captured the village of Karlivka about 30 kilometers (19 miles) southeast from the city of Pokrovsk a key logistics hub and front in the region The ministry said its forces also took control of the village of Prechystivka about 56 kilometers (34 miles) south of Pokrovsk Russia has regularly reported taking control of additional settlements as it continues its offensive in the Donetsk region The ministry on Monday said forces had also seized the village of Skuchne about 26 kilometers (16 miles) southeast of Pokrovsk.​​​​​​​ KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s southern Belgorod region bordering Ukraine came under attack Friday from Ukrainian artillery fire, mortar shells and drones, authorities said, hours after two drones struck a Russian city in an area next to the annexed Crimea Peninsula struck a building containing psychology and veterinary clinics in the city of Dnipro Serhiy Lysak showed fire engulfing the three-story building that appeared almost destroyed A Russian S-300 missile hit a dam in the Karlivka district of Donetsk province in eastern Ukraine threatening nearby settlements with flooding The town of Graivoron in Russia’s Belgorod region about 7 kilometers (more than 4 miles) from the Ukrainian border a shop and an empty house were damaged in the village of Glotovo One woman was wounded when nearby Novaya Tavolzhanka was shelled AP-NORC POLL: Half of U.S. public approves of military aid to Ukraine in 2nd year of war the Belgorod region was the target of one of the most serious cross-border attacks from Ukraine since the war began 15 months ago but two Russian groups said they were involved with the aim of bringing down Russian President Vladimir Putin Officials in Russia’s southern city of Krasnodar in the region of the same name bordering Crimea Witnesses told local media they heard something like the sound of a moped and then two explosions The blasts smashed a hole in the roof of one building and blew out windows in an apartment building “We just went to bed and then there was such a strong terrible boom,” said resident Tatiana Safonova She said described the sound beforehand “like a growling Veniamin Kondratyev wrote on Telegram that there were no casualties and that some buildings were damaged but essential infrastructure was unharmed Krasnodar Mayor Yevgeny Naumov said a residential building and an office building were damaged Drone attacks against Russian border regions have been a regular occurrence since the start of the invasion in February 2022 an oil refinery in Krasnodar was attacked by drones on two straight days German and Baltic leaders played down concerns about fighting spilling over into Russia WATCH: The human toll of the battle for Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine and so Ukraine can defend itself,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz “It is clear that the weapons we have delivered will only be used on Ukrainian territory.” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas noted that “Ukraine does not have any wish to invade Russia,” and Lithuanian Prime Minster Ingrida Simonyte added: “I’m somewhat puzzled by the worry of Russia because Russia is at war -– so it’s quite strange to think that the war can only be in that other territory that you invaded.” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on Thursday published video that appeared to show a marine drone heading for Russia’s Ivan Khurs reconnaissance ship in the Black Sea The video didn’t show the drone hitting the ship The video followed reports by Russia’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday that Ukraine had launched an unsuccessful attack on the Ivan Khurs using three unmanned speedboats with all three destroyed prior to reaching the ship Moscow released video allegedly showing the destruction of one of the marine drones At least two civilians were killed and three others wounded in Russian attacks on Ukraine in the previous 24 hours the Ukrainian president’s office reported Friday China’s special envoy Li Hui met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and they exchanged “opinions on the situation around Ukraine and prospects for resolving the conflict,” according to the Russian Foreign Ministry Lavrov cited “serious obstacles to the resumption of peace talks created by the Ukrainian side and its Western handlers,” the statement said but it did not disclose what Li said or proposed Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government says it’s neutral and wants to serve as mediator in the conflict Beijing released a proposed peace plan in February insisting that Russian President Vladimir Putin first must withdraw his forces © 1996 - 2025 NewsHour Productions LLC PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization Subscribe to Here's the Deal with Lisa Desjardins Donate while five local reservoirs including Karlivka served as a back-up source The reservoir was viewed as strategically important prior to February 2022. On the 7th June 2014, pro-Russian forces gained control of the site and temporarily opened sluice gates to cause flooding and disrupt the logistics of the Ukrainian Armed Forces forcing local authorities to implement a water rationing regime By October 2023 and after repair work, water from the Karlivka Reservoir remained unsuitable for drinking and was being used only for other household needs; strict rationing remained in place The assessment shows the change in water levels from the 20th May to the 2nd June 2023 with the latter showing the extent to which water levels within the reservoir dropped one week after the incident took place Eight households were flooded as a result of the incident however no critical infrastructure was damaged The high energy torrent released from the reservoir is likely to have impacted numerous habitats along the downstream stretch of the River Vovcha and led to increased levels of bank erosion Increases of suspended sediments can lead to turbidity and block light from the water column The drainage of the reservoir itself will have reduced habitat space Pollutants may have been mobilised from flooded settlements and agricultural areas calcium and magnesium were more than twice Ukrainian national standards the reduction in supply from the reservoir may increase reliance on local boreholes in the areas that it served A pro-Russian blogger posted speculative material on the potential extent of any flooding – it proved less extensive than suggested. Prior to the attacks Ukrainian authorities had notified media outlets that it was a potential target Rivers and Water Systems as Weapons and Casualties of the Russia-Ukraine War | Gleick et al Return to the country map here © 2025 Conflict and Environment Observatory | Charity No: 1174115 | Design by Open & Honest The question of what happened to Shevliuha is the driving force behind Blevins and Lysenko’s short film “I Never Had Dreams of My Son.” It is a question that has consumed Oleksandr for the past eight years more confounding dilemma: How does one go on living when the once unimaginable—the loss of one’s child had the peaceful life of a retiree: in spring and summer he would tend to a small plot of roses below his apartment’s window had pushed him to reinvent himself as an online detective of sorts Despairing of ever getting any real help from the government he had taken to sitting in his son’s old room and scrolling through hundreds of online videos from the war searching for a chance glimpse of him somewhere a grainy clip of captured Ukrainian soldiers being force-marched by pro-Russia separatists down a street in Donetsk on August 24 There was a blurry figure in the prisoner parade whose posture and manner of walking instantly looked familiar—it had to be him [Get the in-depth analysis and on-the-ground reporting you need to understand the war in Ukraine. Subscribe today »] he pulled out the printouts of these screenshots and presented them to us,” Blevins When he and Lysenko visited Oleksandr in Karlivka it had been four years since Oleksandr had found the video and five since he had last heard from his son The old man crumpled when Blevins asked him why he was so certain that the figure in the grainy footage was Oleksii it’s impossible for a father not to recognize your own child,” he said the filmmakers shared the photographs with army veterans only to discover that the man was not Shevliuha A tip quickly led Blevins and Lysenko to a former prisoner of war who had been captured around the time Shevliuha had disappeared and was later freed in a prisoner exchange with an upright bearing and close-cropped hair Tepliakov wears a look of forced composure in the film as he describes having to take part in what he calls “a parade of shame,” followed by four weeks in captivity He is visibly upset at having to shatter Oleksandr’s hope The exchange is a stark reminder that war is comprised of a million private devastations which lies in the path of the Russian assault on Kyiv and even in the midst of a new war he remains determined to locate his son His sense is that Oleksii is still out there How Ukrainians saved their capital A historian envisions a settlement among Russia, Ukraine, and the West How Russia’s latest commander in Ukraine could change the war The profound defiance of daily life in Kyiv The Ukraine crackup in the G.O.P. A filmmaker’s journey to the heart of the war Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive the best stories from The New Yorker. Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker visited troops fighting near the Ukrainian-controlled supply hub of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region who is overseeing Russia's military operations in Ukraine visited a tank division and a motorized rifle brigade engaged in battles near Pokrovsk serves as a vital logistics hub for Ukrainian forces Capturing the city would pave the way for Russian troops to advance westward toward Dnipro Video released by the Defense Ministry showed Gerasimov arriving at an unspecified location by helicopter with the pro-war "Z" symbol prominently displayed on the aircraft The video then shows military vehicles on a busy road near what appears to be a church in the village of Karlivka around 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) southeast of Pokrovsk Gerasimov is then seen awarding medals to soldiers receiving reports from commanders and setting battle objectives Russia's Defense Ministry said the general commended the troops for their "valor and heroism" during his visit Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent." These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help please support us monthly starting from just $2 and every contribution makes a significant impact independent journalism in the face of repression Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London He also covers other areas of geopolitics including China Brendan joined Newsweek in 2018 from the International Business Times and well as English You can get in touch with Brendan by emailing b.cole@newsweek.com or follow on him on his X account @brendanmarkcole either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content Russian troops continue to make significant advances toward Pokrovsk, the city in Donetsk that is a key logistics hub, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) whose map shows the latest state of play in the region think tank cited geolocated footage from Wednesday it said showed Russian advances into Memryk a town around 18 miles southeast of Pokrovsk which some military bloggers claimed Moscow had completely seized Other geolocated footage showed advances by Russian forces in other areas southeast of Pokrovsk, near the city of Novohrodivka, which has been corroborated by Russian military bloggers The ISW's map of the area shows these Russian advances as well as incremental gains elsewhere southeast of the city Pokrovsk is a road and rail hub that lies on an important road used by the Ukrainian military to supply other Ukrainian-held outposts in the region Moscow's control of the city would allow it to disrupt Ukrainian supply lines along the eastern front and boost its bid to capture Chasiv Yar which sits on higher ground offering potential control of a wider area Ukraine's defense ministry said in a statement "we do not comment on current operations." Newsweek has emailed the Russian defense ministry for comment A substack article by Frontelligence Insight by the Ukrainian war analyst X account Tatarigami said on Wednesday that another concern is Pokrovsk's location only 12 miles from the administrative border of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Russian forces would face minimal obstacles in advancing toward Dnipro potentially extending their control into another administrative region of Ukraine," the article said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned the situation near Pokrovsk is "difficult" and that Ukraine had decided to "strengthen" its forces in the sector although he has predicted Moscow would have to sacrifice tens of thousands of troops to achieve its aims It suggests that Putin's forces have been undeterred by Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region earlier this month which has seen Kyiv's troops capture 500 square miles according to Zelensky's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi Ukraine's military confirmed that it was behind attacks on oil depots in Russia's Rostov Oblast Kyiv also said that it had hit Kirov Oblast for the first time which lies around 800 miles from the Ukrainian border Ukraine's military intelligence agency and Special Operations Forces attacked the Atlas oil depot in Rostov Oblast overnight Tuesday Ukraine's General Staff said Ukrainian forces also struck the Zenit oil facility in Kotelnich in the Kirov region as well as a Russian field artillery warehouse in western Voronezh Oblast Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all Russia announced on Friday that its forces have taken control of over seven Ukrainian settlements in eastern Donetsk region over past week as Moscow continues to advance on various fronts in the country’s east According to a Russian Defense Ministry statement and Zhuravka in the Donetsk region went under Russia's control 17,947 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles 1,446 combat vehicles equipped with Multiple Launch Rocket System as well as 25,735 units of support motor vehicles have been destroyed during the special military operation," it said Ukrainian officials have yet to respond to Russia's claim and independent confirmation of the development remains difficult due to the ongoing conflict You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Volunteers of Ukrop Dental are helping soldiers and civilians in region where aid is woefully lacking In an abandoned building on the road to no-man’s land Ukraine’s frontline dentists are hard at work These men and women have swapped the safety of their sterilised clinics across the country to join the fight against plaque cavities and Russian-backed separatists on the eastern battlefield Ukrop Dental was founded by Igor Yaschenko while delivering aid to under-stocked government troops Igor was confronted with scores of soldiers stricken with dental problems “This is our philosophy: cure the pain and you’ll fight better in battle,” Yaschenko explains “Healthy teeth make for stronger fighters.” Hostilities have wrought havoc across the country’s industrial Donbass region, devastating communities and overwhelming healthcare services. A recent surge in fighting has only compounded the crisis decades of corruption and mismanagement have left Ukraine’s military in a parlous state In these beleaguered areas where aid is woefully lacking the volunteers of Ukrop Dental have arrived to help military personnel and vulnerable civilians alike “It’s been very painful – I couldn’t focus on my work a government-controlled hamlet near rebel-held Donetsk the day’s camouflage-clad patients arrive in a motley assortment of vans jeeps and hastily repainted sedans before trooping into Ukrop Dental’s base When Yaschenko took over this vacant waterworks the building was booby-trapped with tripwires and explosives Within a month, the dentist transformed the outpost, installing snug sleeping quarters upstairs and, on the ground floor, a modern surgery with equipment donated by colleagues across Ukraine and western Europe Ukrop Dental volunteer Vasiliy Stoyan treats a soldier in Karlivka poor water quality and a mediocre diet all contribute to dental health problems here 80 dentists have taken leave to carry out more than 12,000 treatments in the conflict zone Yaschenko has an easy grin and mixes intransigent patriotism with a subversive sense of humour and the air of an ageing lothario With seemingly limitless reserves of energy the divorced father-of-two runs Ukrop Dental while liaising with a further three mobile clinics and delivering aid food and cigarettes to field hospitals in his 4x4 nationalistic rock anthems pumping from the car stereo turned it into a clinic and planned to donate it to the army,” recalls Yaschenko “But we realised they wouldn’t do the job properly so we decided to do it ourselves Our troops are in serious need of dentists The group’s name translates as Dill Dental – a nod to Ukraine’s love affair with the spindly herb – and its emblem features a blue molar flanked by two green sprigs (Igor appears to have missed the irony of naming his dentists’ collective after a garnish notorious for getting stuck in one’s teeth) Pro-Russia separatists refer to Ukrainians as “dill” a derogatory nickname since reclaimed by Ukrainian paramilitaries and a political party hard rock and 1980s disco blares from a pirate radio station – another one of Yaschenko’s initiatives bobs her head in time to the music as she a yanks out a decayed molar from the mouth of a grimacing serviceman who joined Ukrop Dental after military recruiters turned him down (“They only wanted men who could fire guns,” he says) there is constant pain and only a dentist can help alongside military insignia and flags signed by appreciative patients The corridor is a makeshift waiting room where men sit on a wooden bench One strokes a stray kitten while the others pass the time watching Planet Earth on a laptop the dentists nip outside for a quick smoke or snack on a large stash of chocolate and sweets in the adjacent kitchen fresh salads and plates of sliced cheese and salo (cured pork fat) spent rocket launchers hang on the wall above jars of tea and biscuit tins we head into the basement,” says Yaschenko “Once we were working in a village near the front and shells began closing in on us The clinic was shuddering from the explosions It soon became too dangerous so we went underground to shelter then quickly evacuated.” But the dentists are stoic about the risks “I have to work here – it’s my duty,” says Oleksandr Kolomiyets a government-held town hit recently by renewed clashes and indiscriminate rocket fire the region was rocked by more than 10,300 explosions – the worst fighting in two years “How can I stay at home and watch the war on TV while this is happening?” he says the occupation forces focused their fire on the towns of Avdiyivka in Kherson region the Russian army again attacked the peaceful settlements of Kherson and Beryka Slavsky districts 15 civilian objects were destroyed and damaged — 11 residential buildings a 73-year-old woman died as a result of an artillery shell hitting her own house he was evacuated to the hospital by the police unit “White Angel” Russia hit a dam in the village of Karlivka Police and specialized services are working on the spot since the beginning of the mandatory evacuation - 75,125 people a factory and a summer cooperative were damaged The Russian army once again attacked peaceful settlements of Kherson and Beryslav districts with rocket systems of volley fire The enemy carried out an air strike on the village as a result of explosions of controlled bombs damaged agricultural machinery and warehouses on the territory of the farm 8 houses and 2 cars were damaged in the cottage cooperative Novotyaginka shelling destroyed windows and roofs of houses of local residents On the territory of the Kalinovskaya community during field work civilian infrastructure objects were under fire from the occupiers private and apartment buildings in the neighborhoods of Krabel the equipment of the enterprise for the construction of water structures and the dormitory of the educational institution were also damaged a fire broke out in the factory warehouse of materials We use cookies to provide you with better navigation on our website you automatically agree to the use of these technologies.