Ukrainian troops say Russia’s front-line push has driven them out of two more eastern villages

Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian soldiers say Russian forces have overrun two front-line villages, after relentless assaults that are part of a Kremlin summer push to overwhelm battlefield defenses in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. A Ukrainian army chief sergeant said Monday that Russia’s army “pressed non-stop.” The villages lie about 30 kilometers (20 miles) northwest of Avdiivka, a Donetsk city that the Russian army seized in February after a long battle that was its last major triumph in the war now in its third year. Russia’s eastern onslaught, fueled by its heavy advantage in soldiers and weaponry, has repeatedly forced the Ukrainians to pull back from defensive positions to avoid being captured or killed.