MOSCOW: The Russian army on Sunday claimed to have captured two more villages in southern Ukraine, where its troops are slowly gaining ground against outnumbered Ukrainian forces.

On Telegram, the Russian Ministry of Defense said its troops had taken Rivnopillia and Mala Tokmachka in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Although the Zaporizhzia frontline is much less active than the eastern front, where most of the fighting occurs, Russian forces that are better equipped and more numerous than their opponents are advancing in both regions.Fighting in the east centers around control of the key logistical hub Pokrovsk, which hundreds of Russian soldiers have infiltrated in recent weeks, weakening Ukrainian defenses.

Peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow are currently deadlocked, and a planned Budapest summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin did not go ahead.