By Elena Teslova
MOSCOW (AA) - The Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Friday that its forces had taken control of six Ukrainian settlements over the past week.
The ministry said in a statement that units from its Zapad (West), Yug (South), Tsentr (Center), and Vostok (East) groups of forces have taken control of several settlements in the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions through continued offensive actions, including Sredneye, Kleban-Byk, Nelepovka, Filiya, Pervoye Maya, and Zaporozhskoye.
Additionally, over the past week, the Russian armed forces delivered seven group strikes with high-precision weapons and attack drones, targeting Ukrainian military-industrial facilities, airbases, a missile storage warehouse, a fuel depot, a Neptune missile complex, command posts, drone launch sites, and temporary deployment points for Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries.
According to the ministry, Ukraine responded with air attacks over the week, while Russian air defense systems shot down a Su-27 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, 18 guided aerial bombs, nine rockets from the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, a Neptune long-range guided missile, and 1,377 drones.
Ukraine has yet to comment on Russia's claims, and independent verification is challenging due to the ongoing armed conflict.