Moscow (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Russian defence forces announced on Sunday that they captured another village in western Ukraine’s Donetsk region, as their forces move closer to the Dnipropetrovsk region nearby.
The Russian defence ministry announced that Russian troops have taken control of the village of Myrne, which they referred to by its Soviet-era name, “Karl Marx,” AFP reported. It is situated near the administrative border separating the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk areas.
The ministry stated that forces had advanced “deep into the enemy’s defence” to seize the village. On Sunday, Myrne was one of the two villages Russia reported capturing.
Earlier in June, Russian forces announced that they had seized another settlement in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region amid their ongoing military campaign. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that troops took control of Novoukrainka, a village approximately 21 kilometers north of the strategically important town of Velyka Novosilka.
Russia had earlier claimed to have taken control of Velyka Novosilka on January 27. The town is located near the intersection of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Novoukrainka is less than a kilometer from the administrative border between Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk.
How has Russia advanced in recent eastern offensives?
By the middle of 2025, Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine will be well into its 3rd year, despite intermittent diplomatic engagements and US-led negotiations, the violence continues with increasing ferocity over the summer months.
This summer, Russian forces have significantly increased offensive operations, airstrikes, artillery bombardments, and continued ground operations on multiple fronts in eastern and southern areas of Ukraine.
Why did Russia reject the latest ceasefire proposal?
Since the beginning of the conflict, Russia has effectively flatly rejected any ceasefire proposals offered by the United States and Ukraine. Since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, multiple rounds of negotiations have occurred between the various nations. However, Russia has always maintained maximalist demands, insisting that Ukraine recognize its annexation of Ukrainian territory, limit Ukraine’s military, and guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO.
Most recently, in 2025, Russia rejected the US-backed proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, which was accepted by Ukraine, and instead claimed that such a ceasefire would facilitate Ukrainian forces to regroup and reorganize.
