 "In this image made from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, a Russian \"Grad\" self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher fires towards Ukrainian positions on an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP file)")
Russia’s defence ministry on Monday claimed its forces had seized three more villages in eastern Ukraine, marking the latest gains in its slow-moving offensive.
The announcement came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky toured European capitals seeking additional support for Ukraine’s exhausted military and its badly damaged energy grid.
According to Moscow, Russian troops captured Gai in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Platonivka in Donetsk, and Dvorichanske in Kharkiv.
Large parts of eastern Ukraine have been destroyed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, forcing millions to flee and leaving tens of thousands dead.
Recent videos released by Russia’s defence ministry show newly captured frontline villages reduced to rubble by airstrikes, with few—if any—residents remaining.
The fiercest battles are currently focused around Pokrovsk, a strategic logistics hub where Ukraine has acknowledged that hundreds of Russian soldiers have pushed into the city.
Despite its advantage in manpower and weaponry along the vast frontline, Russia’s advances have remained slow and costly due to heavy fortifications on both sides.
Meanwhile, efforts by US President Donald Trump to push for a peace agreement have hit a dead end, with Moscow rejecting calls for a ceasefire and refusing to soften its territorial demands.