MOSCOW:

Russia reported on Sunday that its troops have captured two frontline villages in Ukraine: Andriivka in the eastern Luhansk region and Pishchane in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky welcomed the arrival of a Patriot air defense system from Germany, while both sides announced more deaths from rocket attacks.

Earlier on Sunday, Russia said it had deployed fighter jets to prevent two US strategic bombers from crossing the border via the Barents Sea in the Arctic.

The two villages that Russia claims to have captured are less than 20 kilometers (12 miles) apart, on a stretch of the front line where Moscow has made major advances in recent weeks.

Russian army units “liberated” the settlements of Andriivka and Pishchane and “also occupied more favorable lines and positions,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Andriivka, a village with fewer than 20 inhabitants, was one of the last settlements in the eastern Luhansk region still under Kiev control and was a key target for Moscow.