Russian troops have taken control of Novonikolayevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry said in its latest battlefield update.

According to the ministry, units of the Center group of forces also captured Toretskoye and Petrovka, while Novonikolayevka was taken on August 13.

On this part of the front, Russian forces struck formations from three mechanized brigades, a jaeger brigade and an assault brigade, as well as an assault regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a marine brigade and four National Guard brigades.

The Defense Ministry put Ukrainian losses at more than 2,435 servicemen. It also listed two tanks, 26 armored combat vehicles, 68 vehicles, nine artillery guns and eight electronic warfare stations as destroyed.

Novonikolayevka is located in the Druzhkovka urban community of the Kramatorsk district of the former Donetsk region. Before the fighting began, the settlement had a population of about 80 people.

The village lies near the Gruzskaya River, roughly two kilometers west of Krasny Kut, whose capture was announced by the Russian Defense Ministry on July 28.

The advance by the Center group is widening the bridgehead southwest of Druzhkovka. It currently includes Pavlovka, Priyut, Torskoye, Toretskoye, Novonikolayevka and Petrovka.

Military correspondent Alexander Kots believes Russian forces still need to take Novogrigorovka and two villages named Rayskoye to secure the flanks of the units moving toward Druzhkovka. In his assessment, the outskirts of the city are about two and a half kilometers from the latter settlements.