Military commanders told President Vladimir Putin in comments reported on Monday that Russian forces had captured the frontline Ukrainian towns of Pokrovsk and Vovchansk and were advancing elsewhere, which he hailed as successes to enable further gains.

Ukrainian officials have made no acknowledgement that either place has fallen into Russian hands.

The announcement was issued as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held talks in Paris and ahead of U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff’s meetings in Moscow on a U.S.-backed plan to reach a settlement of the more than 3-1/2-year-old war.

Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian military’s General Staff, reported to Putin during the president’s visit on Sunday to an unidentified military command post that Russian troops had captured Pokrovsk, known in

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