KYIV, Ukraine, June 11, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Russia on Monday claimed the
capture of another village in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, the latest in
a string of gains ahead of a major Ukraine summit in Switzerland.

Dozens of world leaders and top diplomats are to convene for a meeting at the
weekend that President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes will rally global support
behind Kyiv as it struggles more than two years into Russia's invasion.

Zelensky has ruled out direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and
is keen to win over more non-Western countries, including those who maintain
close ties with Moscow.

After almost a year of stalemate, Ukraine has been forced to abandon dozens
of front-line settlements this spring, with Russian troops holding a
significant advantage in manpower and resources.

Russia's defence ministry said Monday that its forces "continued to advance
into the depths of the enemy's defence and liberated the settlement of
Staromaiorske", located southwest of the Russian-held city of Donetsk.

The loss of the village is a symbolic blow to Kyiv, as it is one of the few
Ukraine managed to recapture last year in a largely lacklustre counter-
offensive.

Staromaiorske is on the southern front of the Donetsk region, one of the four
regions Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2022 and where some of the fiercest
fighting is now taking place.

Putin told an economic forum last week that Russia had seized 47 Ukrainian
towns and villages so far this year.

That includes gains in the northeastern Kharkiv region where Moscow launched
a major ground assault last month, causing thousands of Ukrainians to
evacuate and further stretching Kyiv's forces.

US President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said
Sunday that Russia's advance on the Kharkiv border region had "stalled out"
after Washington partially lifted restrictions on using US-donated weapons to
strike inside Russia.

- 90 countries -

In a diplomatic setback for Kyiv, Biden confirmed last week that he would not
be attending the June 15-16 summit at the Burgenstock Resort, which overlooks
Lake Lucerne in central Switzerland.

Vice President Kamala Harris will instead represent Ukraine's most important
military and financial backer.

Zelensky had also hoped to secure high-level attendance from some of Moscow's
allies, principally China.

Beijing has criticised the gathering and said it would be "difficult" to
attend without Russia's participation.

The Swiss presidency said Monday that 90 countries had confirmed their
attendance at the summit, which will follow a G7 meeting in Italy.

"In the face of Russia's air terror, urgent solutions for Ukraine's energy
sector will be our top priority," Zelensky said Monday in Germany.

The Ukrainian president said he and Chancellor Olaf Scholz will discuss
"further defence assistance, the expansion of Ukraine's air defence system,
and joint arms production," writing on social media platform X.

The initiative is unlikely to produce a significant breakthrough, but Ukraine
hopes it will build international support for its position that Russia should
not be able to crystallise territorial gains through its invasion.

The gathering will also allow Kyiv to lobby for more military, financial and
diplomatic aid.

The Kremlin has blasted any talks about the conflict without its
participation as "absurd".

- 'Obsession' -

On the battlefield, Russia has now shifted its focus to two strategic towns
in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian soldiers fighting there told AFP at the
weekend.

"The fiercest fighting is taking place in this area: Pokrovsk and Chasiv Yar.
This is the sector they really want. This is their obsession," said
Oleksandr, a 36-year-old tank crew member.

Russian forces have been attacking the hilltop town of Chasiv Yar for months.

Its capture would be a strategic blow to Ukraine and could leave it
vulnerable to further Russian advances.

Another Ukrainian soldier, Danylo Madiar, 33, said it "had become very
difficult to hold this front line" with many losses.

Zelensky said Monday that the situation in the Donetsk region was "the most
difficult" across the entire front line.

Russia also continued a campaign of aerial attacks Monday on Kharkiv city,
Ukraine's second largest, with a strike that injured at least seven people,
officials said.

"There were three attacks on the city with guided aerial bombs," Mayor Igor
Terekhov said in a post on Telegram.

Earlier in the day one person was reported killed and two wounded by Russian
fire on the village of Dergachi, to the northwest of the city.

Ukrainian forces separately claimed to have struck an advanced Russian air
defence system overnight on the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in
2014.

The general staff said Ukraine had hit an S-400 air defence system near the
town of Dzhankoy and also targeted two S-300 systems near Chornomorske and
Yevpatoriya.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the alleged strikes and AFP
could not independently verify the claims.

Seven people were also wounded in Russia's Belgorod border region, four after
a mine blast and three by a Ukrainian aerial attack, the governor said.