Russian forces take two villages in Donetsk region, says defense ministry

Russia on Sunday said its forces had captured villages in two key frontline areas of eastern Ukraine as they advance towards the supply hub of Pokrovsk and the industrial town of Kurakhove.

The defense ministry said in a daily briefing that troops had “liberated” the village of Vesely Gai south of Kurakhove and the village of Pushkine south of Pokrovsk, both in the Donetsk region.

 "As a result of decisive actions by units from the Battlegroup South, the settlement of Vesyoly Gai in the DPR has been liberated. Units from the Battlegroup Center have liberated the settlement of Pushkino in an active offensive," the ministry specified.

 Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers have been encircled in Kurakhovo in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), military officials told TASS.

"At least two hundred [enemy] troops have been trapped at the Kurakhovo thermal power plant alone. And there are hotbeds inside the town, too," the officials said.