Russia announced today another captured village in eastern Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, quoted by TASS, announced the “liberation of the settlement of Petrovka in the Donetsk People's Republic“, BTA reports.
The information has not been independently verified. So far, there has been no reaction from the Ukrainian side to confirm the Russian claim.
Petrovka is a small village in the Druzhkiv city municipality, in the Kramatorsk district of Donetsk region. According to data from 2001, it had 21 inhabitants. The settlement is located more than 20 kilometers south of Kramatorsk, the largest city in Donetsk Oblast, which remains under Ukrainian control.
Donetsk Oblast is among the four Ukrainian regions that Russia has declared annexed. However, Moscow does not fully control the territory of the region, with the exception of Luhansk Oblast, for which the Russian side also claims to have established full control, but this has not been confirmed by Ukraine.
According to the data provided, Russia controls over 80% of Donetsk Oblast. Russian armed forces are located a few kilometers from the so-called fortress cities of Kramatorsk, Slavyansk and Druzhkovka.
Against this background, the possible capture of Petrovka would fit into the ongoing Russian attempts to advance into Donetsk Oblast. The small settlement is located in an area where Russian forces are approaching key Ukrainian positions and cities.
At the same time, Petrovka was not mentioned in the regular morning briefing of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, 204 battles were recorded on the front line in the previous 24 hours. The situation was most severe in the Pokrovskoye and Slavyansk directions.
The absence of Petrovka in the Ukrainian briefing means that there is currently no independent confirmation from the Ukrainian side of the Russian claim that the village has been captured.
The development remains part of the ongoing fighting in the Donetsk region, where Russian forces are seeking to expand the territory they control, while Ukrainian forces continue to defend their positions in the directions around Kramatorsk and other key settlements.