MOSCOW: Russia said Sunday its military had advanced further in east Ukraine, capturing a frontline village just a few kilometers north of a key Ukrainian-held industrial hub.
Moscow has made steady gains on the battlefield for months, pressing its advantage against overstretched and outmanned Ukrainian forces.
Russian army units “liberated the settlement of Izmailovka,” the Russian defense ministry said in a daily briefing, using the Russian spelling for the village.
Izmailivka had a population of just under 200 people before the conflict.
It lies eight kilometers (five miles) north of the key industrial hub of Kurakhove and just a few kilometers north of Kurakhivka, a small town on a stretch of frontline Moscow is trying to surround.
The announcement was followed by Russia on Monday claiming it downed 109 Ukrainian drones in a day over several of its regions, including near the border.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday that Moscow would “respond” if the West allowed Ukraine to use longer-range weapons against his territory.
“It’s too early to say yet, but of course our military department is thinking about it and will offer various responses,” Putin told a state TV reporter in remarks aired Sunday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has for months been asking his Western allies for permission to use long-range missiles against targets deep inside Russian territory, arguing the move would “motivate” Moscow to seek peace.
The United States and Britain signalled a decision on the matter was imminent last month, but later delayed the move after Putin warned they risked putting NATO “at war” with Moscow.
Putin said on Sunday he hoped the West had listened to that warning.
“They didn’t tell me anything about it, but I hope they heard,” the Russian leader said.
109 drones downed
In a statement, Russia's defense ministry said a total of 45 drones were intercepted in the Briansk region, which borders Ukraine and Belarus, while 26 were destroyed to the south in Russia's Belgorod region.
Eighteen were downed in the Tambov region, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
Five were intercepted in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have been conducting a ground offensive since August and control several hundred square kilometres of Russian territory.
One person was lightly wounded when a drone crashed and caught fire at an industrial facility in Russia's western city of Voronezh, governor Alexander Gusev said.
More drones were downed elsewhere in Russia, which announces almost daily that it has destroyed Ukrainian UAVs.
Kyiv says the strikes, which often target energy infrastructure, are in response to Russian bombardments of Ukrainian territory.
