The Russian army announced today that it has taken control of a new village in the Zaporizhia region of southern Ukraine.

In a statement, the Russian defence ministry confirmed that its forces had taken control of the village of Levandy in Zaporizhia and were ‘occupying more favourable positions’.

Ukrainian forces had retaken the village in June 2023 during a ‘counter-offensive’ against Russian forces.

In September 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the formal annexation of the Ukrainian province of Zaporizhia to Russia, based on the results of a referendum organised by Moscow, a move condemned by several Western countries.

Bordering the Black Sea, Zaporizhia is home to the country’s largest nuclear power plant, overlooks the Dnipro River and had a pre-conflict population of 1.63 million.

Russia and Ukraine have given conflicting accounts of the situation on the ground since the start of the Russian military operation against Ukraine in February.