Russia says it has taken string of east Ukrainian villages

A serviceman of the National Police Special Purpose Battalion walks at a position in a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine November 20, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia's Defence Ministry said on Friday that its forces had captured a string of frontline settlements in eastern Ukraine, a claim Kyiv has either denied or declined to acknowledge.

The ministry said that four settlements in the Donetsk region, the focal point of Russia's westward push, were now under its control, including Yampil, east of the Ukrainian-held city of Sloviansk.