MOSCOW, March 12, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Russia on Tuesday said that its forces had captured the village of Nevelske in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, where Russian troops have made recent gains.

Moscow has recently been able to leverage Ukrainian shortages of ammunition and servicemen to gain ground in the east, ahead of presidential elections this week.

The defence ministry said in a statement that Russian forces had captured Nevelske and taken up "more favourable lines and positions" in the region that the Kremlin claimed to have annexed in 2022. 

Faced with hold-ups to much needed Western aid, Ukraine has lost ground to Russia over the past three months, withdrawing from the industrial hub of Avdiivka in February. 

Donetsk, which was annexed by Moscow along with three other southern and eastern regions, has seen the worst fighting of Russia's full-scale military offensive, now in its third year.