Russia says captured two more eastern Ukrainian villages

Russia said Tuesday it had captured two more villages in eastern Ukraine, in the latest in a string of gains for Moscow on the battlefield.

Russian forces have advanced in Ukraine for weeks and the fall of the villages comes days before an international summit on Ukraine.

Moscow's defence ministry said Russian forces took Timkovka in the northeastern Kharkiv region and Miasozharivka, calling it by its Russian name of Artemovka, in the eastern Lugansk region.

Timkovka lies near Kupyansk in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

Russia launched a fresh offensive in the Kharkiv region in May.

Miasozharivka lies in the north of the Lugansk region, which Russia has claimed to have annexed, near the border with the Kharkiv region.

Russia has made the gains in Ukraine this spring and early summer as Kyiv's forces have struggled with a lack of men and ammunition.