RFE
08 Jun 2025

Ukrainian General Staff spokesman Andriy Kovalev has denied claims by the Russian Defense Ministry that its forces advanced into Ukraines eastern Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time since it launched its full-scale invasion.

Kovalev told RBC-Ukraine that the claims were "Russian disinformation" and that fighting continued in the neighboring Donetsk region. On June 8, Moscow said its forces had entered the Dnipropetrovsk region as Russia and Ukraine sparred over the return of thousands of corpses of their combatants killed in the war.

Russia Claims Its Forces Enter Dnipropetrovsk Region

The Kremlin has stubbornly refused calls by US President Donald Trump, Ukraine and the European Union for a complete and unconditional ceasefire.

In peace talks with Kyiv in Istanbul last week, it again pushed hard-line demands, including a pullback of Ukrainian troops from the frontlines, ending all Western arms support to Ukraine and Kyiv giving up on joining NATO.

Moscow, which already controls nearly 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, has captured more than 190 square kilometers of the Sumy region of eastern Ukraine during the past month, according to pro-Ukrainian open-source maps..

"Those who do not want to recognize the realities of the war at negotiations, will receive new realities on the ground," Russia's ex-president Dmitry Medvedev said on social media.

Dnipropetrovsk region is a significant hub in Ukraine for mining and industry. Military analysts fear deeper Moscows advances into the region could jeopardize Kyiv's struggling military and economy. It is not among the five Ukrainian regions Russia has formally claimed to be part of its territory.

A 60-year-old Ukrainian lieutenant colonel, Oleksandr, said Russian advances would not alter the battle's dynamics.

"They are advancing slowly, very slowly, but they are advancing," he told AFP in the town of Mezhova, close to the border between the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions.

There was no immediate independent confirmation of the claim. Reports from both the open-source monitoring group DeepState and the US-based Institute for the Study of War had not confirmed the claim as of their latest updates on June 7.

Russia has also stepped up its attacks inside Ukraine. At least 14 civilians were killed and another 68 wounded in the Kharkiv, Kherson and Donetsk regions because of Russian attacks on June 7 and 8, according to the National Police of Ukraine.

"Among the victims are two children: a one-and-a-half-month-old baby and a 14-year-old girl, as well as two police officers and an employee of the State Emergency Service, said reports by the police.

The attacks targeted the city of Kharkiv and the Izyum, Chuhuiv and Kupiansk districts.

The occupiers used missiles, guided aerial bombs, barrage ammunition and attack drones against the civilian population, said the police reports. As a result of the hits, high-rise buildings, cars, the building of a children's music school and private houses were damaged.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a fire at a chemical plant in Russias Tula region, some 180 kilometers from Moscow, according to the regions governor, Dmitry Milyaev.

On June 8, Russian authorities said that Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports, two international airports serving Moscow, had temporarily suspended flights due to a Ukrainian drone attack. Flights at Domodedovo were halted again later in the day, along with those at Zhukovsky airport.

With reporting by Reuters and the AFP