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Russia claims victories in Donbas region, fires rockets at Mykolaiv in south Ukraine

A Russian multiple-launch rocket system fires a couple rockets during fighting in Ukraine on Thursday. The strike targeted Ukrainian positions and a field warehouse of Ukraine's armed forces, according to Russian officials. Photo by Russian Defense Ministry via EPA-EFE
1 of 4 | A Russian multiple-launch rocket system fires a couple rockets during fighting in Ukraine on Thursday. The strike targeted Ukrainian positions and a field warehouse of Ukraine's armed forces, according to Russian officials. Photo by Russian Defense Ministry via EPA-EFE

July 21 (UPI) -- Russia said on Thursday that it's achieved a series of additional military victories in eastern Ukraine as it shifts some focus to other areas in the battle-scarred country away from the Donbas region.

Officials in Moscow said that Russian forces shot down at least one Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft, an Mi-8 helicopter and five unmanned drones. The military officials also said the forces destroyed Ukrainian artillery positions and rocket-launch systems in parts of the country.

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Russian defense officials also said that fighters "disarmed" a Ukrainian brigade after it refused to serve in the Donbas.

"Russian and separatist forces continue to attempt small-scale assaults along the Donbas front line," the British Defense Ministry, which has been monitoring the fighting for months, said in a tweet. "Russian forces are likely closing in on Ukraine's second biggest power plant at Vuhlehirska, 50 kilometers northeast of Donetsk."

The ministry added that Russian leaders are particularly keying in on critical infrastructure, such as energy stations.

"Russia is prioritizing capturing critical national infrastructure, such as power plants," it said in a tweet. "However, it is probably also attempting to break through at Vuhlehirska, as part of its efforts to regain momentum on the southern pincer of its advance towards the key cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk."

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The military actions in Ukraine on Thursday came one day after Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska visited Washington, D.C., and spoke to members of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Pool Photo by Saul Loeb/UPI

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had said on Wednesday that Russia might seek to capture more land outside the Donbas -- which is comprised of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Controlling the Donbas has been Russia's chief objective in Ukraine since April and its military has made significant progress there over the past several weeks.

"It's not just Donetsk and Luhansk, it's Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and a number of other territories," Lavrov said according to The Guardian. "And this is an ongoing process, consistent and insistent."

Meanwhile, officials in Mykolaiv said that several Russian missiles lit up the southern city early on Thursday.

"I cannot think of any explanation for this shelling, as none of the military objects or warehouses were hit," Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said according to CNN.

"Critical infrastructure and objects in the vicinity to the civilians were hit. Luckily, there are no casualties."

Russia has also kept up attacks in Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv. Ukrainian officials say a rocket attack there injured close to two dozen people -- and other Russian attacks have targeted crowded civilian locations.

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Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska visits Washington

First lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska addresses members of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 20. Pool Photo by Saul Loeb/UPI | License Photo

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