Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A summer offensive by Russian forces has succeeded in penetrating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's home region of Dnipropetrovsk for the first time, with troops capturing two villages in the southeastern corner of the province.
The Russians occupied Zaporizke and Novohryhorivka, the BBC and The New York Times said, after breaking through from neighboring Donestsk following months of heavy fighting for control of cities in the west of the province and were now battling to establish a foothold in Dnipropetrovsk.
The Russian gains by infantry backed by drones and other fire support were confirmed Tuesday by "DeepState," a real-time mapping project with links to the Ukrainian military, and the Russian Defense Ministry.
DeepState said that having entered the province, Russian forces were "now entrenching themselves, and accumulating infantry for further advances."
Officially, Ukraine categorically denied it had lost more territory to Russia, which has been attempting to push westwards from Donetsk all summer.
