KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia said Monday it has captured the village of Levadne in southern Ukraine as it investigates weaknesses. the war “The approximately 1,000 kilometer long front line, including the eastern areas, which is currently the main focus of Moscow’s military efforts before winter arrives.
Ukrainian authorities meanwhile reported that there was no night Shahed drone strikes into the country for the first time in about six weeks, after saying five days ago that it had hit a Shahed storage facility in Russia’s Krasnodar region where some 400 drones were reportedly kept.
In Moscow, the Defense Ministry said Russian forces had captured Levadne in the Zaporizhia region. Levadne was seized by the Russians early in the war, but was recaptured by Ukrainian forces during a counter-offensive in the summer of 2023.
Ukrainian forces are doing their utmost to hold back Russia’s military power, especially at home the eastern Donetsk regionand do not have the manpower or weapons to launch their own offensive. Although Russia’s gains have increased incrementally, its steady forward momentum is slow the Ukrainians are being pushed back.
Ukraine says so needs more western help to have a chance to stop the invasion of Russia.
Russia illegally annexed four regions of Ukraine, including Zaporizhia, in September 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from all four regions as the key condition for any future peace deal, a demand that Ukraine and the West have rejected.
The Ukrainian General Staff reported a direct hit on the Shahed drone warehouse in Russia last week.
“The destruction of the Shahed drone storage base will significantly reduce the ability of the Russian occupiers to terrorize peaceful residents of Ukrainian cities and towns,” it said at the time.
Ukrainian officials are keen to show the West that they are not giving up the fight against their much larger neighbor. A raid in Russia’s Kursk border area has placed Ukrainian troops on Russian territory for more than two months.
Ukraine has also deployed advanced new long-range missiles drones to attack targets in Russiaincluding airfields, oil refineries and ammunition depots.
Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence said on Monday it destroyed a Russian military transport aircraft, a Tu-134, at a military airfield in Russia’s Orenburg region.
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