Russia says it has taken control of two villages in Ukraine's Donetsk region

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian forces have taken control of two more frontline settlements in key areas of eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday.

Ukrainian officials did not address the Russian announcement concerning the two villages, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv's counter-offensive operation near the town of Dobropillia, also in Donetsk region, made progress.

Reuters could not independently verify battlefield accounts from either side.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces were now in control of Shandryholove and Zarichne, both northeast of the city of Sloviansk - one of the centres Moscow hopes eventually to capture in its drive westward through Donetsk region.

It then issued a second statement saying Defence Minister Andrei Belousov had congratulated the unit for the "bold and decisive" actions that led to the capture of Zarichne, identified by its Soviet-era name, Kirovsk.

Video released by Russia's Ministry of Defence purports to show Russian troops moving from building to building and holding aloft a Russian flag as they take control of Shandryholove.

Moscow has been advancing slowly along the frontline crossing eastern and southern areas of Ukraine, announcing the capture of new villages nearly every day. It does not release casualty figures, but Ukrainian and Western military analysts say the advances have come at a high cost in men and equipment.

Ukraine's military made no acknowledgment of Zarichne changing hands. But a lengthy media report on Saturday said the village was under Ukrainian control, though Russian soldiers had entered parts of it.

Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said Ukraine's Dobropillia counter-offensive, near the key logistics centre of Pokrovsk, was proceeding, with Ukraine having recaptured 175 sq. Km (67.5 sq. miles).

Top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, who last week said the front line now extended over 1,250 km (775 miles) provided similar details on the Dobropillia operation on Telegram. Russia now holds about 19 % of Ukrainian territory.

Zelenskiy also said the situation was "not easy" in Kupiansk, a town long under Russian attack in northeastern Kharkiv region, and in parts of Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk region. But Ukrainian servicemen were "doing everything they can to defend their positions".

The popular Ukrainian war blog DeepState, which uses open sources to track the positions of the two sides, said Ukrainian forces had given up the village of Poltavka, east of Dobropillia.

(Reporting by Reuters and Ron Popeski; Editing by Alison Williams and Stephen Coates)