Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Monday that its forces had captured the town of Zalizne in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, as its offensive against the nearby city of Toretsk gains steam.

Zalizne, which Russia calls by its Soviet-era name of Artyomovo, adjoins Toretsk, a mining town and longtime bastion of Ukrainian forces operating in the Donbas region.

Zalizne had a pre-war population of around 5,000, while around 30,000 people lived in Toretsk.

Toretsk is close to the frontline with territories seized by Russian-backed separatists in 2014, and has anchored Kyiv’s fortifications in the area since.

Russia is making steady gains in twin pushes towards Toretsk and Pokrovsk, another Donetsk region stronghold, even as Ukrainian forces try to push further into Russia’s Kursk region in a cross-border offensive.

(Reuters)