MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Sunday its forces had taken more advantageous positions near Avdiivka and Donetsk after President Vladimir Putin ordered the military to push further into Ukraine following two years of full-scale war.
A Ukrainian report made no mention of Russian gains in Donetsk region, the focal point of Moscow's slow advance in eastern Ukraine. It noted clashes around Avdiivka, captured by Russian forces last week, and other areas contested for months.
Russia's defence ministry said its troops had pushed back Ukrainian forces near Klishchiivka, Dyliivka and Kurdiumivka, villages south of Bakhmut, a town taken by Russian troops last May but an area where Ukrainian troops remain active.
The Russian report also said Moscow's troops had taken better positions near Avdiivka.
"In the Donetsk direction, units of the Southern grouping of troops improved the situation along the front line and defeated formations of the 22nd, 28th and 92nd mechanised brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of the settlements of Klishchiivka, Dyliivka and Kurdiumivka," it said.
"In the Avdiivka direction, units of the Centre group of forces occupied more advantageous lines and positions, and also defeated manpower and equipment of the 3rd Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the 107th Air Defence Brigade."
The ministry said Russian troops had repelled seven Ukrainian counterattacks in the area. Seventy-seven Ukrainian drones were destroyed, the ministry said.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, in its evening report, said Kyiv's forces had repelled 18 attacks near Avdiivka. It said five Russian attacks had been beaten back near Bakhmut, referring to Klishchiivka, Kurdiumivka and other localities.
Reuters was unable to immediately verify battlefield accounts from either side in the war.
Putin said last Tuesday Russian troops would push further into Ukraine to build on their success after the fall of Avdiivka, where he said Ukrainian troops had fled in chaos.
Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering full-scale war after eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces on one side and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies on the other.
Along the 1,000 km (600-mile) front line, Russian troops are dug in behind deep mine fields patrolled by drones and guarded by heavy artillery.
Russia controls a little under one-fifth of territory internationally recognised to be Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he will not rest until every last Russian soldier is ejected.
Russia says the territory its forces control is part of Russia and that it will never be given up. The West has committed about 250 billion euros ($271 billion) worth of aid to Ukraine in an attempt to defeat Russian forces.