“The village of Krasnoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic has been liberated,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, using the old Russian name for the settlement.
Yevgenij Prigozhin, the late leader of the Russian militant group “Wagner”, has said that 20,000 of his fighters were killed trying to capture Bachmut.
Russian forces have claimed control of several front-line settlements in recent weeks as Ukrainian forces face troop and ammunition shortages.
Last month, the Russians captured Advijivka, near the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk.
It was the first major territorial gain in recent memory, which Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed as evidence that his forces were back on the offensive.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that the military had “liberated” Ivanivsk, also near Chasiv Yar, which could become another target.
If the Russians capture Chasiv Yar, they could intensify their attacks on the strategically important Kramatorsk, which is already under increasing fire.
Russia’s statement came amid rising tensions over Friday’s attack on a concert hall in a suburb of Moscow that officials said killed at least 133 people.
In a televised address to the country’s population on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the four arrested criminals “were traveling towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, they had the opportunity to cross the border.”
Russia’s FSB security service previously said the attackers were in contact with people in Ukraine and tried to escape there.
Ukraine strongly denies any involvement in the attack and says Russia is looking for a pretext to escalate the war. The United States said on Friday there was no indication that Ukraine, which is fighting a Russian invasion, was linked to the deadly attack at a Moscow concert hall.
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2024-04-01 05:00:00