Russian forces have taken control of two villages in the eastern Donetsk region, according to a Ukrainian army sergeant, following relentless attacks as part of a summer offensive by the Kremlin to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses.

Separately, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claimed responsibility for attacks on a number of substations in Russia’s Kursk region, causing power outages. This came after Russia reported thwarting a Ukrainian drone attack overnight.

“They pressed non-stop” to capture Vovche and Prohres, said Oleh Chaus, the chief sergeant of Ukraine’s 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, speaking to Radio Svaboda. “They sent in a large number of troops, which had not previously been used.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry had previously claimed to have taken control of the villages, but the Ukrainian General Staff had not made an official statement.

The villages are located about 20 miles northwest of Avdiivka, a Donetsk city that the Russian army captured in February after a protracted battle. This victory was the Kremlin’s last significant success in the war, now in its third year.

Russia’s onslaught, fueled by its substantial advantage in troops and weaponry, has repeatedly forced Ukrainian forces to withdraw from defensive positions to avoid being captured or killed.

Oleksandr Shyrshyn, the 47th brigade’s deputy battalion commander, confirmed to local media that the villages had been taken. He attributed the setbacks to poor troop training, inadequate officer skills, low morale, and insufficient weaponry.

late Sunday described the situation in the Donetsk region as “extremely challenging.”

Russia’s strategy of attritional warfare, utilizing powerful glide bombs to decimate Ukrainian defenses before infantry advances, has yielded incremental gains for the Kremlin as it seeks another major breakthrough.

Ukraine is significantly outgunned by Russia’s larger army along the roughly 600-mile front line.

Russian troops are also intensifying their weekslong efforts to breach Ukrainian defenses around Pokrovsk, a town with a pre-war population of about 60,000, according to the Ukrainian General Staff on Monday.

Russia launched 52 attacks there in the previous 24 hours — nearly double the daily number in recent weeks, it said.

Meanwhile, Russian air defenses thwarted a nighttime barrage of 39 Ukrainian drones over five of the country’s regions, Russian authorities said Monday. Ukraine claimed its forces carried out strikes in the Kursk region.

Russia’s air defense systems were active, and explosions were reported near at least four substations, according to a statement from Ukraine’s General Staff. Following the attack, power outages were reported in the Ponyrovsky, Solntsevsky and Kursky districts of Kursk region, the statement said.

The attacks were conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine’s Special Operations Center, as well as other components of the Defense Forces.

“These facilities, among other things, ensure the functioning of the Russian railway, which transports weapons and military equipment to support its occupation army,” the statement said.

said the drones were “intercepted and destroyed” in regions bordering Ukraine, as well as in the Leningrad region roughly 430 miles north of the Ukrainian border. A power plant, a bridge and a power line were damaged by drone debris, it said.

Ukraine has employed advanced technology in its campaign of increasingly ambitious drone strikes deep inside Russia, targeting critical infrastructure in an attempt to raise the cost of the war for Moscow and hinder its war machine.