Russian Defence Ministry says Moscow's forces take another east Ukrainian settlement

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday its forces had taken control of the settlement of Nova Illinka, close to the embattled Donetsk region town of Kurakhove in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine's military made no mention of Nova Illinka in its daily dispatches. The town lies on the opposite bank of a reservoir from Kurakhove, one of the focal points of a steady advance through Donetsk region by Russian forces.

But Deep State, a popular Ukrainian blog tracking the movements of the armed forces, said more than a week ago that Nova Illinka had fallen into Russian hands.

Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports from either side.

Analysts and war bloggers say Russian forces are advancing in eastern Ukraine at the fastest rate since the early days of the February 2022 invasion, capturing village after village.

Kurakhove and Pokrovsk, farther north in Donetsk region, are the next apparent targets of the Russian advance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, mentioned areas around both towns as the theatre of some of the fiercest fighting in the conflict, which has now extended over more than 33 months.

Zelenskiy also cited the Kupiansk sector further north in Kharkiv region, where Russian troops have been active. According to Ukrainian reports, Russian troops have made two forays recently into Kupiansk only to be expelled.

The town was occupied by Russian forces in the early weeks of the invasion and was recaptured months later in a lightning Ukrainian counter-offensive.

Ukraine's General Staff, in a late night report on Wednesday, said Ukrainian forces had repelled 30 of 36 attacks near Kurakhove, with six armed clashes still going on. It said Ukrainian troops had repelled 26 of 35 attacks near Pokrovsk.

Russia's Defence Ministry said Ukrainian artillery fire had twice hit the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the city of Enerhodar, where most of the plant's staff live.

Russia and Ukraine regularly accuse each other of staging attacks on the plant, Europe's largest with six reactors. Both sides deny targeting the plant.