By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia claimed on Monday that it took control of two settlements in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, where Moscow has begun an incursion amid the ongoing conflict.
A statement by the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its forces captured the villages of Volodymyrivka and Bilovody, both of which are situated just a couple of miles from Ukraine’s border with Russia.
The two villages are also some 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) north of the city of Sumy, the border region’s administrative center, which has been regularly hit by Russian airstrikes over the course of the Ukraine war, now in its fourth year.
Ukrainian authorities have not immediately commented on Russia’s claims, and independent verification of the claims is difficult due to the ongoing conflict.
Moscow's claims come as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced last Thursday that he ordered the creation of a "security buffer zone" along his country's border with Ukraine.