Russia Claims Capture of Berezivka Village in Ukraine’s Donetsk Region- wna24

Kyiv: Russian Army on Saturday claimed that its forces have captured the village of Berezivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, marking a new breakthrough as Ukrainian defenses weaken.

Russia’s larger army has carried out a prolonged yearlong campaign along the eastern front, steadily weakening the exhausted Ukrainian forces’ hold on key strongholds as the war nears its fourth year later this month.

There was no initial comment from the Ukrainian officials. 

Although a small settlement, seize of Berezivka would further Russia’s advance across the Donetsk region, which has come at a high cost in troops and equipment but has yielded benefits for the Kremlin. Russian forces use heavy artillery, missiles, drones, and 3,000-pound (1,300-kilo) glide bombs to devastate settlements before sending in infantry units to engage the vulnerable defenders.

Russia aims to take full control of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk, together forming Ukraine’s Donbas industrial region.

Kyiv’s recent setbacks in eastern Ukraine come amid uncertainty over continued U.S. military aid. U.S. President Donald Trump, prioritizing American interests, recently stated he would likely meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a peace deal for Ukraine.

At the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Europe must consider the possibility that “America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it” and called for the creation of an “armed forces of Europe.”

In other developments, Ukraine’s State Agency for Exclusion Zone Management reported that radiation levels at the Chernobyl nuclear plant remained unchanged on Saturday, a day after a drone with a warhead struck the plant’s protective outer shell in the Kyiv region.

The UN International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed on Friday that the strike, which caused a hole in the structure and briefly ignited a fire, did not compromise the plant’s inner containment shell.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that 40 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight into Saturday across four regions of western and southwestern Russia, with no casualties reported.

Moscow launched 70 drones into Ukraine overnight into Saturday, according to Ukrainian officials. The Ukrainian air force stated that 33 drones were destroyed, while 37 others were likely lost due to electronic jamming.