A Ukrainian communal worker repairs cables on the site of a shelling in a village in the eastern Donetsk region, on October 5, 2024, amid Russia's war in Ukraine. AFP
Russian troops have moved westwards in the Donetsk region for months, with Kyiv saying this weekend that the situation was "very difficult."
Moscow's defence ministry said its forces have now taken Mykhailivka, at the gates of the town of Selydove, and south of Pokrovsk.
Selydove has been badly damaged by months of shelling and has seen most of its population flee.
Russia has been trying to capture Pokrovsk -- a mining town that was home to some 60,000 people before Moscow launched its offensive. It has been claiming east Ukrainian villages for months.
Short link: