Russian bloggers gave similar accounts, and said that Russia was now in control of part of Selydove.Russia’s months-long attack in the direction of Pokrovsk has led to Moscow capturing around 300 square miles of territory since seizing the city of Avdiivka in February.

Russia's impending capture of a crucial Ukrainian coal mine could cripple the nation's steel industry and accelerate Western acceptance of a negotiated end to the war.

Russian forces have made a fast advance into the eastern Ukrainian coal mining town of Selydove, according to Russian media and war bloggers, as Moscow's troops try to gain control over the whole of the Donbas region.