Russia says advancing across front line including south

Russia said Wednesday its forces had advanced in both north and south Ukraine, capturing three settlements including the symbolically important village of Robotyne that Kyiv reclaimed in 2023.

The Ukrainian army has been under intense pressure in the past week, fighting off a surprise Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region while facing critical shortages of ammunition.

Russian army units "completely liberated the village of Robotyne" as well as Glyboke and Lukyantsi in the northeast Kharkiv region, the defence ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine acknowledged Wednesday it had pulled back from several settlements in Kharkiv region amid heavy shelling along the border, and had sent in reinforcements.

Robotyne was one of only a handful of villages Ukraine reclaimed in its counteroffensive last year and was meant to be a milestone paving the way for its troops to advance to Melitopol.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the village in February and had hailed its capture as a major success in what had otherwise been an operation plagued with setbacks.