Russia claims to capture another Ukrainian settlement

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Thursday that Russian forces had taken control of the settlement of Mykolayivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

The ministry said in a statement that the operation was carried out by the Southern group of forces.

In addition, Russian air forces carried out strikes using Kinzhal hypersonic missile systems against Ukrainian defense industry facilities and military airfields, it said.

“Russian troops also struck assembly, storage, and launch sites for Ukrainian armed forces’ unmanned aerial vehicles over the past 24 hours,” it stated.

It added that Ukrainian air raids were repelled and that Russian air defense systems shot down a HIMARS projectile and 390 fixed-wing drones over the same period.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram that Russia carried out one of its largest air attacks overnight, using missiles and approximately 1,560 drones.