 "Civilians participate in trench warfare training during a \"Test Week\" organized by the 3rd Assault Brigade in Kyiv, on January 30, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo- AFP")
Moscow accused Ukrainian troops on Friday of killing 22 people when they occupied a Russian village, including eight women who were allegedly raped before being executed.
Ukraine has controlled dozens of border settlements in the Kursk region of western Russia since launching a surprise offensive in August, and says about 2,000 civilians still live in areas it occupies.
Russia has now retaken several towns and villages.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said on January 19 it was investigating the killing of “at least seven civilians” in the village of Russkoye Porechnoye, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
The village has been retaken by Moscow.
The committee said on Friday it had expanded the probe and was now investigating the killing of “22 residents” between September and November.
Among the victims, whose bodies were found in the basements of several homes, were eight women who were allegedly raped before being killed, the Investigative Committee said.
Russia claims capture of Novovasylivka, moving closer to Pokrovsk in Donetsk
On Friday, Russia asserted that its forces had captured another village in their ongoing offensive in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, advancing closer to the key Ukrainian logistics hub of Pokrovsk after nearly three years of conflict.
The Russian claim of taking Novovasylivka could not be independently verified, and Ukrainian officials did not immediately respond.
However, battlefield maps published early Friday by the Ukrainian General Staff suggested the village was at least partly under Russian control. A comparison with other maps of the area by The Associated Press indicated Novovasylivka is largely under Russian control.
Russian forces have been trying for months to capture the key Donetsk strongholds of Pokrovsk and nearby Chasiv Yar, fighting their way across farm fields and woodland and engulfing small rural settlements.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe fall of Pokrovsk and Chasiv Yar could enable the Russian army to complete its hold on Donetsk and even set the stage for it to continue on into the neighboring Dnipro region.
The recent Russian push in the area has coincided with US President Donald Trump taking office and repeating his pledge to end the war soon. That has prompted both Moscow and Kyiv to pursue battlefield gains that might give them an edge at the bargaining table.
The village of Novovasylivka is located around 11 kilometers (7 miles) southwest of Pokrovsk. Ukrainian officials have said Russia is attempting a pincer movement to surround Pokrovsk.
Pokrovsk is a key road and rail junction, furnishing supplies to a broad span of the front line. Chasiv Yar is a strategic hilltop.
Ukraine’s General Staff said Friday that Ukrainian troops had repelled 71 attacks by the Russian army toward Pokrovsk over the previous 24 hours, meaning that almost half of Russia’s attacks along the entire 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line occurred around Pokrovsk.
With inputs from agencies