Russia captures another Ukraine village

Tuesday saw the Russian military announce that they had taken control of a second hamlet in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine.

The settlement of Pivdenne, which is outside of Toretsk, a larger town that Russian soldiers have been moving towards in recent months, has been "liberated," according to the ministry of defence.

Based on estimates from the Ukrainian government, the hamlet had a population of about 1,400 when Russia began its full-scale military operation in 2022.

In recent weeks, Moscow has claimed to have gained control of a number of settlements in the Donetsk region, many of which just have a few streets.
Though it did not have complete control over the Donetsk region, Russia asserted that it had annexed it in 2022 along with three other regions in eastern and southern Ukraine.

In its most recent attack, its forces have been advancing on Toretsk, a town that was formerly home to about 30,000 people.

Approximately six kilometres (four miles) southeast of Toretsk is Pivdenne, formerly known as Leninske in Russia.