MOSCOW: Russia said Monday its forces had captured the east Ukrainian village of Nelipivka, advancing in an area of the frontline where Kyiv claimed to have gained ground earlier this month.

Moscow has made small but steady gains across the eastern front this year, pressing on even as Kyiv mounted a cross-border offensive into Russian territory.

The Russian defence ministry said in a daily briefing that its units had “actively liberated the village of Nelepovka,” using the Russian name for the village.

Nelipivka had a population of just under 1,000 people before the conflict began in 2022, according to official statistics.

Vladimir Putin says Russia will accomplish ‘all goals set’ in Ukraine

It lies just north of the Ukrainian town of New York, where Kyiv claimed to have made rare gains earlier in September.

The Russian army has captured dozens of Ukrainian towns and villages this year, many of them just a handful of abandoned streets, as Kyiv’s army grapples with exhaustion and relentless Russian bombardment.

The main target of Moscow’s assault in recent months has been the Ukrainian logistics hub of Pokrovsk, a city that lies on road and rail routes that supply Kyiv’s forces across the frontline.