Serhii Gaidai, the Ukrainian governor of the city of Luhansk, said that Ukrainian forces largely control a key road connecting the two Russian-controlled cities in the east of the country, Reuters reported.

After seizing part of the territory during the blitzkrieg, Ukrainian forces are now slowly advancing east into Luhansk Oblast and aim to capture the Russian-controlled towns of Svatove and Kreminna, located 45 km south of Svatovo. Cities are the main settlements of districts of the same name.

“The road from Svatovoy to Kreminnaya is practically under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Our soldiers advance every day,” Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhii Gaidai told National Television.

A Russian-backed separatist official reported heavy fighting on Wednesday in the Kreminnaya and Svatovo districts, which are on the front line after Ukrainian forces defeated Russian forces in neighboring Kharkiv Oblast in September.

Separately, Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Service said its agents, fighting alongside regular troops, captured the village of Nevske on Sunday, killing 34 Russians. Nevsky is located 10 km west of the Svatove – Kreminna highway.

Neither Svatov nor Kreminna are mentioned in the daily report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A message posted on Facebook said Russian forces had bombed dozens of targets along a major front line.

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