Russia says it captures 3 more settlements in east Ukraine

FILE PHOTO: A serviceman of the 33rd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fires a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops in a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ivan Anatolii Stepanov/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian troops advancing slowly on the eastern front of the war in Ukraine have captured two settlements in Donetsk region as well as one in Ukraine's northern region of Sumy, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday.

Since their failed advance on the capital Kyiv in the first weeks of the war, Russian forces have focused on capturing the Donbas in the east, made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.