Ukraine Attacks Kursk, Russia Responds To Rebutting Zalizne Donetsk City

ILLUSTRATION/Ukraine Military At The Russian Kursk/PHOTO Via Instagram @ukraine_defence

JAKARTA - The Russian Ministry of Defense claims its forces have captured the city of Zalizne in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, as its attacks on the nearby city of Toretsk escalate.

Zalizne, named by Russia by the Soviet era Artyomovo, borders Toretsk, the mining town and the old fort of Ukrainian troops operating in the Donbas region.

As reported by Reuters on Monday, August 19, Zalizne has a pre-war population of around 5,000 people, while about 30,000 people live in Toretsk.

Toretsk was close to the frontline with territory captured by Russian support separatists in 2014, and has since strengthened the Kyiv stronghold in the region.

Russia made stable progress in two attacks toward Toretsk and Pokrovsk, another fort on the Donetsk region, even as Ukrainian forces tried to push further into Russia's Kursk territory in a cross-border attack.