Russia has made fresh gains in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to the US to discuss plans to end the war.
Moscow’s forces captured the town of Ukrainsk near the logistical hub of Pokrovsk, the Russian-installed Donetsk governor Denis Pushilin said on Tuesday. A map compiled by Ukrainian group DeepState, which has ties to Ukraine’s defence ministry and monitors the battlefield, on Wednesday confirmed the advance as well as further territorial gains in the region.
Russian forces also made gains and looked closer to encircling Vulhedar and Kurakove, two towns further south in that same area, according to DeepState. If the two towns fell it would allow Moscow’s forces to encircle and take Pokrovsk, severing Ukraine’s main supply line to the region.