(MENAFN) Russia announced on Friday that its military had taken control of three more settlements in eastern Ukraine.

In a statement released by the Defense Ministry, officials said that Russian forces operating in the Dnipropetrovsk region had seized the village of Pryvillia, located roughly 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) southwest of Verbove. Moscow had previously declared control of Verbove on October 1.

Pryvillia lies close to the boundary separating the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. This development marks another strategic gain in an area of continued military focus.

According to the same statement, Russian troops also captured the villages of Pishchane and Tykhe in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region. Pishchane is situated approximately 22 kilometers (13.6 miles) southeast of Kupiansk, a key location in Moscow’s broader campaign.

The region’s governor, Oleh Synyehubov, mentioned earlier this week that officials had ordered large-scale evacuations from 27 settlements near this frontline city due to the “worsening security situation.”

Tykhe lies just 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the Russian-Ukrainian border and about 60 kilometers (37.2 miles) northeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Kharkiv has been a consistent target of Russian airstrikes throughout the conflict.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s General Staff reported that its troops repelled 13 Russian assaults within the previous 24 hours near five settlements along the Kupiansk front, including Pishchane.

The report also mentioned that fighting occurred on Thursday near Vovchansk—located just west of Tykhe—as well as near Verbove in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

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