Five people killed in Russian attack on Zaporozhye, Russia claims to have taken control of Kupyansk, Ukraine denies

Five people were killed and three wounded in a Russian attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia late last night, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said, Reuters reports.

Photos posted online by Fedorov show buildings engulfed in flames and streets covered in rubble. The governor had earlier issued a warning of an impending attack by Russian guided bombs.

Russia claims to have taken control of Kupyansk, Ukraine denies

The Chief of the Russian General Staff told Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday that Russian forces had taken control of the northeastern Ukrainian town of Kupyansk, but the Ukrainian military denied this, according to Reuters.

Ukraine also rejected Russian allegations that its forces had taken large parts of two other towns — Pokrovskoye, a logistics hub that Russia has been trying to capture for months, and Volchansk, near the Russian border.

The Kremlin earlier announced that Putin visited the command post of the Russian military formation "West", where he met with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and top military commanders.

Putin was briefed on the situation in two key cities in eastern Ukraine — Kostiantynivka and Kramatorsk — as well as around Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, the Kremlin said.

"Units of Group 'West' have liberated the city of Kupyansk and continue to destroy units of the Ukrainian armed forces surrounded on the left bank of the Oskol River," Gerasimov told Putin in a video posted on the Kremlin website.

Gerasimov, who sat among the top officers opposite Putin, who was also in military uniform, told the president that Russian forces had taken control of 70 percent of Pokrovsk. He also said that more than 80 percent of Volchansk was under Russian control.

The most intense fighting along the 1.200-kilometer front line is taking place near Pokrovsk, he said, adding that Ukrainian forces are offering "fierce resistance."

It was not clear from the recording where exactly the meeting with Putin took place.

Ukraine denies losing territory

A statement from the Ukrainian military released late last night said: "The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hereby announces that Kupyansk is under the control of the Ukrainian Defense Forces."

"Also incorrect are the statements that 80 percent of Volchansk in the Kharkiv region is occupied, as well as that 70 percent of the city of Pokrovsk is under Russian control," it added.

The General Staff reported fierce fighting in the direction of Pokrovskoye, stating that Russian forces had carried out 56 attacks.

Russian forces are leading a slow advance westward through the Donetsk region as part of a campaign to capture all of Donbas — which consists of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, according to Reuters.

Russian forces have also made recent gains further south, in the Zaporizhia region. They currently hold about 19 percent of Ukraine's territory.