Russia's Defence Ministry said in a briefing published on Telegram on Saturday that its forces had taken a village in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region.

The village, Kalynove, has a population of around 200 people, according to Ukraine's 2001 census.

It lies south-east of the Ukrainian logistics hub Pokrovsk, which has been threatened by an accelerating Russian advance in east Ukraine's industrialised Donbas.

Russian troops have been advancing on Pokrovsk for months and Ukraine has ordered the mandatory evacuation of children from the city.

Moscow has claimed to have captured a string of villages in the area, even as it struggles to fight off a major Ukrainian counter-attack into its own western Kursk region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia's "primary objective" in the conflict was to capture the entire Donbas area — which consists of Ukraine's Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Months after it launched its full-scale military offensive in 2022, Moscow claimed to have annexed Donetsk and Lugansk, along with the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, despite not having full control.

Russia's incursion in Kalynove comes amid news that three people were killed and three others wounded in an artillery shelling attack in Kostyantynivka, an industrial city in the Donetsk region.

Donetsk region governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram that three men aged between 24 and 69 were killed and a multi-storey block, administrative building and a shop were damaged in Saturday's attack.

Kostyantynivka — which before the war was an industrial town of around 70,000 people — has seen many of its residents leave as the frontline has moved closer through the 30-month Russian invasion. It has been hit regularly by missiles, bombs and artillery.

In August, authorities announced a compulsory evacuation of families with children from the city due to the danger posed by Russia's advances.

Reuters/AFP