On Friday, Russia announced that it had taken control of three villages in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions, including areas that Kyiv had reclaimed during a surprise counteroffensive three years prior.

According to Moscow’s military leadership, the captured villages are Pishchane and Tykhe in Kharkiv, as well as Pryvillia in Dnipropetrovsk.

The Russian military continues to progress through eastern Ukraine, engaging in costly battles for small settlements that have been largely destroyed by fighting since February 2022, with only a few residents remaining.

Ukraine had regained substantial portions of the Kharkiv region, including Pishchane, during a rapid counteroffensive in the autumn of 2022, prompting Russia to initiate a military draft for the first time since World War II.

Despite these setbacks, Russian troops are gradually advancing once more, aiming to encircle the strategically important logistics center of Kupiansk, a significant Ukrainian advance from the 2022 counteroffensive.

The Russian offensive has resulted in tens of thousands of fatalities and widespread devastation across eastern Ukraine, compelling millions to flee their homes.

On Friday, the Moscow-installed governor reported that “two adults and a 10-year-old child died during heavy shelling of a residential area” in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s Kherson region.

In response, Ukrainian authorities stated that “one person was killed and 14 others injured due to Russian shelling” in the territory controlled by Ukraine in the same region.

Additionally, Russia launched a drone assault against Ukraine using 70 drones overnight, just hours after President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump, during which they agreed to schedule a new summit.

The Russian military claimed that it managed to intercept 61 Ukrainian drones during the night, primarily over Russia’s western regions and the annexed Crimea peninsula.