Russia and Ukraine bicker over tiny front-line village

The dispute illustrates how bogged down the front line has become in the conflict.

Russia has claimed its forces have taken control of the village of Tabaivka in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, but Kyiv has denied the claim.

Moscow claimed it had taken the tiny village on Monday in a defence ministry statement. However, Ukrainian officials quickly asserted on national TV that Kyiv remains in control. The disagreement illustrates the state of the bogged-down and muddled front line in conflict, which has now been ongoing for nearly two years.

The Russian army said it has “liberated” Tabaivka, but Volodymyr Fityo, head of communications for Ukraine’s ground forces, said: “This does not correspond to reality. There are battles taking place near this locality.”

Fityo added that Moscow nevertheless was “trying to advance in all directions”.

The village of Tabaivka lies near the border with the Luhansk region and had a population of 34 people before Moscow’s invasion.

Both the Kremlin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have denied the conflict has reached a deadlock, despite the sprawling front line barely moving in months.

Russia has for months been trying to advance into the Kharkiv region, hitting its main city several times and killing 11 people in an attack last week.

Ukraine’s major counteroffensive in the summer failed to push the invading Russian forces back significantly. Kyiv is now seeking additional soldiers for the front, in contrast to during the early days of the war in 2022 when droves of patriotic volunteers were seen.

With the front line largely at a standstill, the two foes have concentrated in recent weeks on air strikes, with cities and infrastructure in Ukraine and Russia targeted.

Moscow hit large swathes of Ukraine with drone and missile attacks, Kyiv’s Air Force said on Sunday.

The Russian Air Force said Moscow attacked the central Poltava region with two missiles fired from its Iskander ballistic missile system. It also launched three surface-to-air missiles over the Donetsk region in the east.