International desk:
Russia said on Monday it captured an east Ukrainian mining village south of Pokrovsk, home to one of Ukraine’s most important coal mines and where Russian troops have reached the outskirts.
Russian forces have been edging towards Pokrovsk, an important eastern hub, since the summer.
Moscow’s defence ministry said troops took the village of Pishchane, around eight kilometres south-west of Pokrovsk, which Russia has been trying to seize for months.
Last month, Ukraine’s main steelmaker Metinvest and the owner of the Pishchane mine said it had halted operations there and evacuated personnel.
The shaft in Pishchane provided around half of Metinvest’s total Ukrainian coal extraction.
Meanwhile, Russia accused Ukraine on Monday of launching a drone attack on the infrastructure of a major gas pipeline that carries Russian supplies to Europe via Turkey.
The allegation — which Kyiv has not commented on — comes amid an escalating energy row between the two countries, almost three years after Russia launched its full-scale military offensive.
Kyiv halted the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine on January 1 — ending decades of energy cooperation that had brought billions of dollars to both countries — in a bid to cut off revenue for Moscow’s army.
