Ukraine Says Russian Troops Inside Dnipropetrovsk Region

Ukrainian forces acknowledged for this time on Tuesday that the Russian army has entered the eastern industrial region of Dnipropetrovsk, BBC reported. Russia has consistently claimed to have entered the region as its forces try to push further in Ukraine through the Donetsk region. 

“Yes, they have entered, and fighting is ongoing as of now,” said Viktor Tregubov, a spokesperson for Ukrainian forces in Dnipro, Ukraine’s fourth-largest city. Russia had commenced its offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region in early June. Russia’s offensive continues despite US president Donald Trump’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15 where they discussed Moscow's war in Ukraine. 

Russia has not laid claim on Dnipropetrovsk but it has attacked its big cities, including the regional capital Dnipro.

The Ukrainian DeepState mapping project assessed on Tuesday that Russia had now occupied two villages just inside the region, Zaporizke and Novohryhorivka. Ukraine’s armed forces general staff, however, denied the claim. The military "continue to control" Zaporizke, it said in a statement, and "active hostilities are also ongoing in the area of the village of Novohryhorivka,” BBC reported. 

Trump has claimed to arrange a possible summit involving Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday had accused Western powers of deliberately obstructing peace negotiations aimed at ending the Ukraine conflict, as Trump’s efforts to broker a high-level meeting between the warring leaders appeared to stall.

Trump has also repeatedly warned of massive sanctions on Russia if the conflict does not end soon.