The Russian military says it has captured a small town in eastern Ukraine called Niu-York, as part of a push toward major population centers in the Donetsk region.
The Ukrainian military has not confirmed the loss of Niu-York, saying only that Russian forces are striking near the city and other areas. The military gave the attacks “a dignified rebuff… and the fighting continues,” it said.
Although only a small settlement, control of Niu-York would mark another step towards the two Donetsk hubs of Toretsk and Pokrovsk.
One of the goals of Ukraine’s seizure of territory in Russia’s Kursk region is believed to be to force Russia to withdraw some of its troops from the eastern campaign.
There is no indication so far that this will happen, despite the fact that Ukrainian Supreme Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi now claims to have control over 93 Russian towns and cities.
President Volodymyr Zelensky described the situation in the east as difficult, but said Ukrainian troops were doing everything they could to destroy Russian troops. The military chief told a briefing that Russia was sending additional troops to the front line in the east.
A statement from the Russian Defense Ministry said active operations by units of the Center Forces Group had defeated Ukrainian forces, referring to Niu-York as “one of the largest settlements of the Toretsk agglomeration and a strategically important logistics hub.” It also referred to the city by its Russian name Novgorodskoye.
Russian military bloggers shared footage on Monday night of a Russian tricolor flag hanging from the roof of a school in Niu-York, while the Ukrainian flag lay on the ground.
However, the video first circulated two weeks ago and since then Ukrainian troops have blown up the flag and damaged the roof with a drone on August 8.
Niu-York is just south of the mining town of Toretsk. Russian forces said Monday they had also captured Zalizne, southeast of Toretsk.
Ukrainian forces stated that they were still fighting in Zalizne. Local sources reported that they still held 20% of Niu-York, although they had far fewer reserves than the Russians.
On Monday, Ukrainian authorities ordered the evacuation of Pokrovsk as Russian troops approach the city.
Russia had focused more than a third of its 87 daytime strikes on its advance toward Pokrovsk, according to a military briefing on Tuesday. Local officials say the Russian military is now about 10 km (6 miles) from the city’s outskirts.
According to regional head Vadym Filashkin, 53,000 people still live in Pokrovsk, including almost 4,000 children.
Ukraine’s Supreme Commander said the counteroffensive in Russia’s Kursk region has now advanced 28-35 kilometers beyond the border, with 1,263 square kilometers under Ukrainian control and a total of 93 population centers.
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said three new military groups have been formed to counter the Ukrainian operation in three border regions – Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk.
Their task would be to “protect civilians and territories from attacks” by drones and other attack methods.
Russian officials are downplaying the success of the Ukrainian operation in the Kursk region.
Major General Apti Alaudinov, commander of Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces unit, told Russian television that the Ukrainian army had suffered very serious losses.
Asked to respond to reports that three bridges over the Seym River had been blown up, cutting off evacuation and supply routes, he said: “The fact that one bridge has been blown up means nothing.”
However, state news agency Tass reports that local police are now having to use private boats to bring civilians to safety as bridges have collapsed.
German photographer Nanna Heitmann said she had spoken to Russians in the region who were furious that state media were not reporting the full picture: “They are shocked, they are angry. Many people are waiting, thousands of people are queuing to find shelter, to get basic necessities like blankets, pillows etc.”
Russian Vladimir Putin, who appears to have been misled by the Ukrainian offensive, compared it on Tuesday to a 2004 massacre at a school in Beslan by Chechen militants in which more than 300 people were killed.
During a visit to the school and mothers of victims in North Ossetia, he said: “Just as we fought terrorists before, we are now fighting those who commit crimes in the Kursk region, Donbas and Novorossiya,” using an old Russian imperial term for territories in occupied Ukraine.
Additional reporting by BBC Verify
