Russia to Occupy 2 More Villages in Ukraine’s East

13 January، 2025

Russian troops have taken control of the villages of Yantarne in the Donetsk region and Kalynove in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

Separately, the ministry said that over the past 24 hours, Russian forces have carried out strikes on Ukrainian military airfields, personnel and vehicles in 139 locations using its air force, drones, missiles and artillery.

Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov on Jan. 10 shared footage showing Russian soldiers raising flags over damaged buildings, claiming to be located in Yantarne.

**The estimated Russian advance in the Kurakhove sector in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, as of Jan. 12, 2025, according to DeepState. Yantarne marked by a black symbol.**

The Ukrainian war monitoring website DeepState said that the situation in the village is still being clarified without confirming nor denying the loss of Yantarne, while Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of forces reported engagements in the area on Jan. 12.

The northeastern village of Kalynove lies on the west bank of the Oskil River and north of Kupiansk, a key logistical hub liberated by Ukraine during a counteroffensive in the fall of 2022.

Russian forces have been attempting to force the Oskil River for months in an attempt to outflank Ukrainian defenders. Andrii Besedin, head of the Kupiansk town military administration, said on Jan. 9 that Moscow’s troops are trying to secure a bridgehead in the town of Dvorichna on the river’s Ukraine-held western bank.

Besedin also said that Russian forces are now within 2 kilometers (1.5 miles) of Kupiansk’s outskirts, adding that the situation is “very difficult.”