Russian forces break into another region of Ukraine with peace efforts stuck

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s invading forces have broken into an eighth region of Ukraine, a Ukrainian military official said Wednesday, seeking to capture more ground in their three-year war of attrition as U.S.-led peace efforts struggle to gain traction.

Some Russian troops have entered the villages of Novoheorhiivka and Zaporizke in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, a major Ukrainian industrial center next to the Donetsk region where fierce fighting has been taking place, Victor Trehubov, spokesman for local ground forces, told The Associated Press by phone.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed earlier this month that its forces had taken the two villages.

But the Russians have not entrenched or built fortifications there, and fighting is continuing in the villages, Trehubov said.

Ukrainian troops are under severe strain as they try to hold back Russia’s bigger army. Military analysts say there is no sign of a looming collapse of Ukrainian defenses and note that Russian forces have been unable to take major towns and cities, but their slow slog through rural areas keeps Ukraine under pressure.

The front line, where tens of thousands of troops on both sides have been killed, snakes along roughly 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) of eastern and southeastern Ukraine, which borders Russia. Russian forces are already in the Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.

Russia illegally seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014, and now occupies about a fifth of Ukraine.

Western leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian troops move deeper into Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump bristled Tuesday at Putin’s stalling on an American proposal for direct peace talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump said Friday he expects to decide on next steps in two weeks if direct talks aren’t scheduled.

Ukraine has accepted U.S. proposals for a summit with Putin and a ceasefire.

Russia has also balked at U.S. and Western plans to establish postwar security guarantees for Ukraine, which fears another Russian invasion in the future even if a peace deal is clinched now.

The possible security guarantees being worked out by Western officials could include the deployment of European troops in Ukraine. But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated Wednesday that soldiers from NATO member countries would be unacceptable for Moscow.

Ukraine is trying to disrupt Russia’s war effort by striking infrastructure behind the front line with ling-range drones. Gas stations have run dry in some regions of Russia after they struck refineries and other oil infrastructure in recent weeks.

Russia, meanwhile, is continuing its campaign to cripple Ukraine’s energy supply ahead of the bitter winter by wrecking the power grid with repeated attacks.

Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Wednesday that Russia struck energy and gas infrastructure in six regions of the country.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine