UPDATE - Russia says it took control of settlement in Ukraine’s Luhansk region

ADDS REMARKS BY UKRAINE'S GENERAL STAFF

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russian troops have taken control of a rural settlement in Ukraine’s easternmost Luhansk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

In a statement, the ministry said that its troops captured the settlement of Bilohorivka, located about 61 kilometers (38 miles) from the city of Slovyansk and 74 kilometers (46 miles) from the city of Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region.

The statement further said that Russian troops have also taken control of “more advantageous lines and positions.”

It claimed that Russian forces defeated Ukrainian troops near the settlement of Hlyboke in the northeastern Kharkiv region, as well as repelled two counterattacks near the city of Vovchansk and the village of Starytsya in the same region.

Commenting on the situation near Bilohorivka, Ukraine's General Staff said that its troops repelled an attack near the settlement, while indicating that two skirmishes were ongoing in Kharkiv, namely near Vovchansk and Starytsya.

On May 10, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Russian forces attempted to breach the country’s defenses in the Kharkiv region, opening a new front in the over two-year-long conflict that is concentrated in the country’s east and south.

Clashes in the region have intensified since then, particularly near Vovchansk, located about 74 kilometers (45 miles) from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Russia claims to have seized control of multiple border settlements since the start of its offensive on the Kharkiv front.

More than 10,500 people from the region’s Bohodukhiv, Chuhuiv, and Kharkiv districts have been evacuated due to the ongoing clashes.