Brendan Cole AND John Feng
Russia has said it had captured a strategically significant settlement in the west of Ukraine's Donetsk oblast amid reports that its troops are closing in on the key regional city of Toretsk as maps show the state of play along the front line.
Russia's Defense Ministry said it had captured Velyka Novosilka, although Ukraine's military only acknowledged there had been a partial withdrawal and that fighting was ongoing elsewhere in the settlement.
When contacted for comment, Ukraine's Defense Ministry referred Newsweek to an earlier media statement that its forces were holding on to positions on the outskirts of Velyka Novoselka and had avoided encirclement by Russian forces.
Why It Matters
Velyka Novosilka is fewer than 10 miles from the border with Zaporizhzhia Oblast and 13 miles from the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, a region so far untouched by Russian occupation. If confirmed, Velyka Novosilka's capture would be the most significant Russian gain in Donetsk since Kurakhove earlier in January.
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