(Reuters) – Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces had captured Hrianykivka, a village in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region that is well to the north of most significant fighting.
A briefing note from Ukraine’s General Staff later on Saturday said the village was being shelled, but made no mention of an assault.
Reuters was not able to independently verify Russia’s battlefield account.
Hrianykivka is around 180 km (110 miles) north of Bakhmut, a city in the eastern Donetsk region that has seen fierce fighting in recent weeks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday thanked forces in the region, saying in a video address that “the most brutal and significant fighting is going on there”.
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Jason Neely and David Ljunggren)
