MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian forces have advanced in the east of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, taking the village of Novoheorhiivka close to the Donetsk region, Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday.

Russian forces said in July they had taken their first village in Dnipropetrovsk. U.S. estimates of the battlefield suggest Russian forces control less than 1% of the region.

Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the five regions of Ukraine that Russia has claimed as its own territory.

Ukraine’s battlefield-mapping project DeepState showed that Russian troops were at least 1-2 kilometres from Novoheorhiivka as of Tuesday.

There was no public comment from the Ukrainian military. It usually does not comment on Russian claims of incremental territorial gains.

“Soldiers of the 57th Guards Motori

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