Russia claims it captured 2 more settlements in Ukraine

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia claimed on Monday that its forces captured two more settlements in eastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

In a statement, the Defense Ministry said the Sever (North) group of forces took control of the village of Pokrovka in Sumy region, while another group, Yug (South), captured Minkivka in the Donetsk region.

According to the ministry, Ukraine responded with air raids, and air defense systems shot down eight US-made HIMARS rockets and 345 drones overnight.

In a separate statement, Bryansk region Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said the region saw its most massive drone attack on Sunday.

"Yesterday, the Bryansk region experienced the most powerful and massive attack. There was no launch of such a large number of drones simultaneously per day in any region of Russia," he said.

According to him, 229 drones were shot down in a single day in the region's skies, but the attack still caused damage and an energy infrastructure facility was hit.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's energy company Ukrenergo said Russia attacked energy facilities in the Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, and Odesa regions on Monday morning.

"In particular, as a result of drone strikes, a significant part of Odesa consumers remain without power supply. Emergency recovery operations are already underway wherever safety conditions allow," Ukrenergo said in a statement.

In a separate update, the Ukrainian General Staff said its forces struck areas of concentrated Russian personnel, as well as a communications center and a drone control center.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv insists that only with sufficient pressure on Russia and clear security guarantees for Ukraine can the war truly be ended.

According to him, Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal briefed on preparations for meetings in the Ramstein energy format scheduled for later this week in France.

"The Group of Seven countries, partners from Northern Europe and the Baltic States, as well as ministers from the United States, Canada and the EU will be represented. We have identified the specific things that we need, and it is on such energy support packages that the minister will focus," Zelenskyy said.