Putin told Russia has captured Ukrainian towns of Pokrovsk, Vovchansk

Russian military commanders told President Vladimir Putin on Sunday evening that the country's forces captured the frontline Ukrainian towns of Pokrovsk and Vovchansk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

Ukrainian officials have made no acknowledgement that either place has fallen into Russian hands. Ukraine's military reported on Monday about 43 Russian attacks in the sector around Pokrovsk.

Peskov, in an audio recording posted by Kremlin pool journalists, said Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian military's General Staff, reported to Putin during a visit to a military command post on the capture of Pokrovsk, known in Russian as Krasnoarmeysk.

A key Russian target in Russia's slow advance through the Donetsk region, the town has been under attack for months by Moscow's forces.

"Army General Gerasimov reported to the commander in chief of the liberation of the cities of Pokrovsk in (Donetsk region) and Vovchansk in Kharkiv region, as well as the results of other offensive actions of troops in other sectors," Peskov said.

Vovchansk, near the Russian border in Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine, has long been gripped by fierce fighting.

Peskov said another commander, Valery Solodchuk, told Putin Russian forces were engaged in clean-up operations against Ukrainian forces around Pokrovsk and the nearby town of Myurnohrad.

A third commander, Andrei Ivanev, reported to Putin about Russian advances further south in Zaporizhzhia region and an operation he described as the initial stage of capturing the city of Huliaipole.