Russian Forces Capture Village in Eastern Ukraine Amid Ongoing Conflict

Russian forces announced on Saturday that they have captured another village in eastern Ukraine, marking a steady advance in the ongoing conflict. The village of Zhelanne Druge, referred to by the Russian defence ministry as "Zhelannoye Vtoroye," is located in Ukraine's Donetsk region, near the town of Kurakhove.

This area is close to Pokrovsk, a critical logistics hub for the Ukrainian army, which now faces increasing pressure from advancing Russian troops.

Meanwhile, Russian-installed authorities in Gorlivka reported that 11 civilians were wounded due to shelling from Ukrainian forces. Additionally, the Russian defence ministry stated that 10 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight in the Belgorod, Voronezh, and Kursk regions, all of which border Ukraine. Voronezh governor Alexander Gusev confirmed that a civilian was injured by one of the Ukrainian drones.

On the Ukrainian side, two people were killed by Russian strikes in the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine, according to regional governor Ivan Fyodorov.

Since the launch of the offensive in February 2022, Russia currently occupies about 18 percent of Ukrainian territory. After facing significant setbacks in 2022, Russian forces have managed to hold their ground in 2023 and have made further advances in 2024, as Ukrainian forces struggle to keep up, often outnumbered and outgunned.

Earlier on July 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had stated that military aid was on its way to the country after a series of meetings with world leaders at the NATO summit in Washington.

"Following my visit to the United States, we had secured new Patriot systems and dozens of other air defense systems. We worked tirelessly to increase the strength and number of Ukrainian Patriots," he had written on social media platform X.

"The Ukrainian Compact, which had been approved at the NATO Summit in Washington, focused on weapons for our soldiers, the work of defense companies in and with Ukraine, and support for our recovery – all of which had been concrete and genuinely supportive of our defense."

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