Moscow said Thursday that it had captured another village in east Ukraine, around 10 kilometres (six miles) from the city of Avdiivka, which fell to Russian forces last month.Â
It was the second village west of Avdiivka that Moscow claimed to have seized this week, with Russia seeing some recent successes on the battlefield as Kyiv suffers from a shortage of ammunition.Â
“The Russian armed forces liberated the village of Tonenke,” Russia’s defence ministry said in its daily briefing, naming a small village along a river with several streets.Â
Russia seized Avdiivka last month after one of the bloodiest battles in the two-year conflict, which Moscow touted as a turning point.Â
The claim came as Russia launched a large-scale missile attack on Kyiv early Thursday, with Ukraine saying Moscow had sent more than 30 missiles on its capital. Â Â
Russia’s defence ministry said it had used “high-precision weapons” including hypersonic Kinzhal missiles on “command centres” of the Ukrainian armed forces.Â
The attack came after President Vladimir Putin vowed that Moscow would respond to an escalation in Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s border regions.Â
The defence ministry said Russian units “continue to carry out measures to prevent the penetration of sabotage and reconnaissance groups” into the border region of Belgorod.Â
Russia’s border regions have been hit by increased Ukrainian shelling in recent days as well as incursions by anti-Kremlin fighters on Kyiv’s side.Â
