Russia captures two towns in eastern Donetsk region as Ukraine shoots down 11 drones

The frontline picture in Ukraine changed drastically in August when Kyiv launched a shock incursion into the Kursk region and Russian began making rapid progress in the east.

By Kieren Williams, news reporter

Wednesday 2 October 2024 15:47, UK

Russia captures two towns in eastern Donetsk region as Ukraine shoots down 11 drones | World News | Sky News


Vuhledar in 2023 - Russian forces have spent over two years failing to take the town until this month. Pic: AP

Russia has captured two Ukrainian towns in the country's east as it continues its advance in the Donetsk region.Meanwhile, Kyiv downed 11 drones overnight in the week after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an important trip to the US to lay out his 'Victory Plan'.

In an apparent counterattack, three people were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia's Belgorod region, according to the local governor.Two key fronts have emerged in the ongoing war in Ukraine, one in the Kursk region, after Kyiv's shock summer incursion, and the other in the east where Moscow's forces are trying to capture key strategic towns.The eastern front has remained the site of the most intensive fighting, with recent weeks having seen Russia claim a series of towns and villages in the Donetsk region.That continued this week when Russian forces captured Vuhledar and Verkhnokamianske.



A Russian defence ministry photo claiming to show one of its missile launchers targeting Ukraine overnight. Pic: AP


Vuhledar pictured in February of last year. Pic: AP

Vuhledar was a Ukrainian stronghold and soldiers there had resisted a Russian offensive for over two years.

But the Ukrainian military said it pulled troops from the town and retreated to avoid being encircled.

"Senior command granted permission to carry out a manoeuvre to withdraw units from Vuhledar in order to preserve personnel and military equipment, and take positions for further actions," the eastern military command said on Wednesday.

Russian telegram channels published videos of soldiers waving the Russian tricolour flag over destroyed buildings in the town.

Once home to 14,000 people before the war, the town has since been devastated with almost all its residents having fled.

Local media said the town finally fell when the last of Ukraine's 72nd Mechanised Brigade, a unit famous for its resistance, left late on Tuesday.

However, despite some Russian war bloggers celebrating the capture, Moscow's prolonged fighting there over more than two years has likely cost it heavy personnel and equipment losses.