MOSCOW: Russia on Sunday claimed to have captured another Ukrainian village, just a dozen kilometres from the key eastern logistics hub Pokrovsk, as its troops advance rapidly.

The Russian defence ministry said it had “liberated the settlement of Vichneve following offensive operations”.

Russia has been making swift advances in the eastern Donetsk region for weeks, taking dozens of towns and villages.

On Saturday, Moscow said its forces had captured the large village of Kurakhivka close to the industrial town of Kurakhove, which Russia is also aiming to capture, and the small village of Pershotravneve in the Kharkiv region close to the eastern Lugansk region.

Capturing Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub for Ukraine that connects several fortresses in the Donbas, is one of Russia’s main objectives in the region.

It is also home to a major coke coal mine that is crucial to Ukraine’s steel production for its military.

Russian troops have advanced to just a few kilometres outside the town.

The Russian army took 478 square kilometres (185 square miles) of Ukrainian territory in October, according to an AFP analysis of data from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

That marks a record since the first weeks of the conflict in March 2022.