Moscow’s forces have pushed into the Kharkiv region this month, home to Ukraine’s second biggest city, in what Western military analysts believe may be an attempt to carve out a so-called buffer zone to try to protect Russia’s neighboring Belgorod region from Ukrainian shelling and incursions, Reuters reported.

The defense ministry said in a statement that units from Russia’s “North” military grouping had captured the settlements of Hlyboke and Lukyantsi in the Kharkiv region after intense fighting and had advanced “deep into the enemy defenses.”

The ministry spoke of heavy fighting in other parts of Kharkiv region too where it said Russian forces had repelled three Ukrainian counterattacks.

The Ukrainian military said late on Tuesday that Ukrainian troops had pulled back to “more advantageous” positions in two areas of the Kharkiv region. It said the fallback was “a consequence of enemy fire and storming action” and “to preserve the lives of our servicemen and avoid losses.”

Russia’s defense ministry said that units from its military grouping “Dnepr” had also made headway in the south, taking full control of the settlement of Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Russia said its air defenses had also shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 warplane along with 40 drones and a slew of U.S.-made rockets.

SD/PR