MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia’s army said Friday its forces had captured another village in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, where Moscow has ramped up its offensive in recent weeks.

Moscow’s defense ministry said it had taken control of the village of Yablunivka, around nine kilometers from the Russian border, in a drive to create what President Vladimir Putin has called a “buffer zone” inside Ukrainian territory.

The Russian advance comes with Moscow having repeatedly rejected calls for a ceasefire in the three-year conflict, instead demanding Ukraine give up even more land and shun Western military support if it wants a peace deal.

Russia first tried to capture the regional capital Sumy at the start of its offensive in 2022, before being pushed back in a Ukrainian counter-offensive later that year.

Kyiv then in 2024 launched its own armed incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region, using the Sumy region as the base for its operation.

After recapturing the Kursk territory earlier this year, Putin ordered his army to once again advance across the border to push back Ukraine’s troops and equipment.

Russia’s defense ministry also said its troops had captured two more villages in the eastern Donetsk region, which Moscow claims to have annexed.