Russia advances in southern Ukraine, Defence Ministry says

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian forces were on Monday advancing in southern Ukraine and had pierced part of the Ukrainian lines less than 50 km (30 miles) southeast of the city of Zaporizhzhia, according to Russian officials and pro-Russian military bloggers.

Reuters could not independently verify the assertions.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said in a statement that its forces had taken the village of Stepove in the Zaporizhzhia region, pushing through Ukrainian lines.

Ukraine’s military made no acknowledgement that Stepove was in Russian hands.

A late evening military bulletin said Ukrainian forces had repelled attacks near Stepove and the nearby village of Lobkove, and three battles were still going on in the vicinity.

Yuri Podolyaka, one of the most influential pro-Russian military bloggers, said Russian forces had also smashed their way into the nearby village of Maly Shcherbaky.

“Our units have broken through the first line of defence in the Zaporizhzhia direction,” Podolyaka said.

The popular Ukrainian blog Deep State, which tracks the front line of the war using open sources, said Russian forces had been spotted near Stepove and, despite Ukrainian attempts to contain them, had made some advances towards a major road.

Deep State also reported that Russian forces were continuing to press forward to Maly Shcherbaky and another village south of Stepove.

Russia on Sunday tried to drive the last Ukrainian soldiers from Kursk region in western Russia, after a seven-month incursion by Ukraine that aimed to distract Moscow’s forces, gain a bargaining chip and rile President Vladimir Putin.

The fighting comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to speak to Putin on Tuesday about ending the war, with territorial concessions by Kyiv and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant likely to feature in the negotiations.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Osborn, Ron Popeski and Stephen Coates)