Russia "takes control of 2 towns in eastern Ukraine"

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have seized control of Jantarne in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk province and Kalinobe in Kharkiv province on the 12th local time.

Reuters said Jantarne is a town about 10km south-west of the Ukrainian military's logistical stronghold Kurakhobe, which Russia seized last week, and Kalinove is a northeastern town of Kharkiv on the west bank of the Oskill River, where a military front between the two countries is formed.

According to AFP, Ukraine claimed on the 9th that Russian forces tried to cross the river and build a bridgehead on the west bank.

Meanwhile, Roman Bussargin, governor of Saratov province near Russia's Volga River, said the plant fire in the region, which was caused by a Ukrainian drone strike on the 8th, was still extinguished.

The plant is said to be an oil facility that fuels Russian military airfields, and the state of Saratov also declared a state of emergency due to the fire.