Russia claims to have captured Novomykhailivka, Ukraine denies

Elsa Court, Martin Fornusek, The Kyiv Independent news desk
·1 min read
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The situation in Novomykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast is "tense but under control," Yaroslav Chepurnyi, the spokesperson of Ukraine's 79th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade, told the Kyiv Independent on April 22, after Russia claimed to have captured the village earlier in the day.

Novomykhailivka is located in the region's Pokrovsk district, around 10 kilometers south of occupied Mariinka. During Ukraine's last census in 2001, the village had a population of 1,400.

Russian troops are constantly storming Ukrainian positions "with and without armored vehicles," Chepurnyi told the Kyiv Independent.

The 79th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade reported on April 19 that Russia had lost over 300 pieces of equipment over six months of fighting around Novomykhailivka.

The battle for the village has been ongoing since "the end of autumn," and it has since become the location of "one of the largest graveyards of enemy equipment of the Russian-Ukrainian war," the Brigade said

Russia concentrated as many as "30,000 fighters on the narrow section of the front" in its attempts to capture the village, according to the Brigade.

Ukraine's General Staff had mentioned the village in its morning update on April 22 as one of the locations where the Ukrainian military continues "to hold back the enemy."

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