Ukraine denies Russian claim that Dobropillia was captured
Kyiv says its forces still hold Dobropillia after Moscow announced the town’s capture.
Ukraine's General Staff rejected Russian claims that the eastern town of Dobropillia has fallen under Russian control, saying Kyiv's forces still hold the locality.
Spokesman Andrij Kovalov told reporters that Ukraine dismisses Moscow's assertions that Russian forces, from 1 September onwards, have seized "more than 1.800 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory and 92 populated places."
On the previous night, Russian General Staff chief General Valery Gerasimov informed President Vladimir Putin that Dobropillia, located in the Donetsk region southwest of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, had been captured by Russian forces.
Strategic direction toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk
Dobropillia lies on the axis of advance toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk — the last two major cities in Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control — and has been the target of repeated Russian assaults because of its tactical importance.
Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov also announced that Russian troops had taken Dobropillia along with seven other settlements in eastern Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defence added that over the past 24 hours its forces struck what it described as storage sites for Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles and elements of transport infrastructure.
Photo: press material from the event
