The Russian Defense Ministry announced Wednesday that its forces had taken control of the towns of Novopavlivka and Alekseyevka in the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

It stated that units from the “Central Group” captured Novopavlivka following “successful offensive operations,” while the “Eastern Group” continued to advance deep into Ukrainian defenses.

The ministry added that Ukrainian forces lost about 190 soldiers along with several vehicles and artillery systems, as Russian troops push forward in the Sumy and Kharkiv areas.