Aug 15 (Reuters) - Russian troops have taken control of 19 settlements in southeastern Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions over their summer campaign, the Russian defence ministry said on Saturday.
In a statement, the ministry cited a report by Pyotr Bolgarev, commander of the eastern group of forces. It did not name the settlements.
Separately, the ministry said its forces had recently taken control of the settlement of Rybalskoye in Zaporizhzhia region, news agency Interfax reported.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.
Russian advances on the frontline have slowed this year even as Moscow has intensified its ballistic strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his forces had recaptured 745 square km (288 square miles) of Russian-held land this year across the southeastern front.
(Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Alessandra Prentice; editing by Barbara Lewis)
