Russian troops claim unconfirmed capture of New York city in eastern Ukraine

The Russian military said it had captured a small town in eastern Ukraine called Nyok as part of a push toward the large population center in the Donetsk region.

The Ukrainian military has not confirmed the crash in Nyuk, saying only that Russian forces were attacking near the town and other areas. The statement said the army responded to the attack with a “worthy response… but the fighting continues”.

Although only a small settlement, taking control of Nyok would mean another step toward the two Donetsk hubs of Toletsk and Pokrovsk.

One of Ukraine’s goals in seizing territory in Russia’s Kursk region is believed to be to force Russia to withdraw some of its troops from its eastern campaign.

Although Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi now claims control of 93 Russian villages and towns, there is so far no sign that this will happen.

President Zelensky described the situation in the east as difficult but said Ukrainian forces were doing their best to destroy Russian forces. Russia is sending additional troops to its eastern front, the military chief said in a briefing.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the active actions of its central forces defeated the Ukrainian army and called Nyok “one of the largest settlements in the Toletsk agglomeration and a strategically important logistics hub.” It also calls the town by its Russian name Novgorodskoye.

A video shared by a Russian military blogger on Monday night showed the Russian tricolor flag being posted on the roof of a school in New York, while the Ukrainian flag lay on the ground.

However, the video first circulated two weeks ago, before Ukrainian forces used drones to blow up the flag and damage the roof on August 8.

Nyok is located south of the mining town of Toletsk, and Russian troops said on Monday they had also captured Zalizne, southeast of Toletsk.

Ukrainian forces say they are still fighting back in Zalizne, and local sources say they still control 20% of Nyuk, although they have far fewer reserves than the Russians.

On Monday, Ukrainian authorities ordered the evacuation of Pokrovsk, while Russian troops continued to advance towards the town.

According to a military briefing on Tuesday, more than a third of Russia’s 87 attacks that day were aimed at Pokrovsk. Local officials said Russian troops were currently about 10 kilometers (6 miles) away from the outskirts of the town.

Regional head Vadym Filashkin said 53,000 people still live in Pokrovsk, including nearly 4,000 children.

The Ukrainian commander-in-chief said that the counter-offensive in Russia’s Kursk region is now 28 to 35 kilometers beyond the border, and Ukraine controls an area of ​​1,263 square kilometers with 93 population centers.

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said that three new military groups have been formed to counter Ukraine’s actions in the three border areas of Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk.

Their mission is to protect “citizens and territories from drones and other means of attack.”

Russian officials downplayed the success of Ukraine’s operations in the Kursk region.

Major General Apti Alaudinov, commander of Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces, told Russian television that Ukrainian troops had suffered very serious losses.

Asked to respond to reports that three bridges over the River Seme had been blown up, cutting off evacuation and supply routes, he said “the fact that some bridges were blown up doesn’t mean anything”.

However, state news agency TASS said local police were now having to use private boats to move civilians to safety due to the bridge collapse.

German photographer Nanna Heitmann said she had spoken to Russians in the region who were angry that state media had not given the full picture: “They are shocked, they are angry. A lot of people are waiting , thousands of people queued to find shelter and basic needs such as blankets and pillows.

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared caught off guard by Ukraine’s offensive, comparing it on Tuesday to the 2004 school massacre in Beslan by Chechen militants that left more than 300 people dead.

“Just as we fought against terrorists before, now we fight against those who commit crimes in the Kursk region, Donbass and Novorossiya,” he said during a visit to a school in North Ossetia and the victim’s mother, using the An old Russian imperial term for the occupied areas of Ukraine.

Additional reporting by BBC Verify