KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia claimed Friday to have captured a village in eastern Ukraine as part of its intense, monthslong push toward the city of Bakhmut, while Ukraine’s allies failed to resolve a dispute about whether to send advanced battle tanks that the country avidly desires.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the village of Klishchiivka, which is located nine kilometers (five miles) south of Bakhmut, had been “liberated.”
The claim couldn’t be independently verified, and Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment on the claim.
Taking Klishchiivka would be only a minor breakthrough, but the Kremlin is hungry for good news from the battlefield after months of setbacks.
Bakhmut, on the other hand, would be a bigger prize. It could allow Russia to disrupt Ukrainian supply lines in the east and threaten other Ukrainian-held cities in the surrounding Donestk region.