Russian forces have taken control of Tikhonovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.

According to the ministry, the village was captured by units of the Southern Group of Forces. In the same sector, Russian troops also struck Ukrainian formations from five mechanized brigades, as well as motorized infantry, airmobile and assault brigades, a marine brigade and a National Guard brigade.

The fighting took place near Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Nikolayevka, Rai-Aleksandrovka, Roskoshnoye and Konstantinovka. The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces lost up to 120 servicemen, two armored combat vehicles, 13 vehicles, five field artillery guns and an electronic warfare station.

Tikhonovka is a small village in the Kramatorsk district of the former Donetsk Region. Before the fighting began, about 120 people lived there. The settlement lies on one of the streams of the Belenkaya River, roughly five kilometers west of Privolye, whose capture was reported by Russia’s military department on January 17, and about ten kilometers from the outskirts of Kramatorsk.

The M03 highway, which links Artyomovsk with Slavyansk, runs north of Tikhonovka. The village itself sits on the eastern approaches to the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, where units of the Southern Group of Forces have been gradually advancing.

Nearby settlements include Vasyutinskoye, Pershomaryevka, Vasilevskaya Pustosh, Malinovka and Zapovednoye. Control over them would allow Russian forces to establish a foothold for a direct push toward Kramatorsk.