Russia's Defense Ministry says troops captured village in Kharkiv region

The ministry said the settlement came under the control of the Sever grouping on Nov. 12. Ukraine had not confirmed this by the time of publication.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said units of the Sever force grouping had established control over the village of Kotovka in Kharkiv region. The statement appeared in the ministry’s weekly briefing published on Friday, Nov. 13.

“Over the week, units of the Sever force grouping took decisive action to establish control over the settlement of Nikolskoye in Donetsk region, and yesterday over the settlement of Kotovka in Kharkiv region,” the ministry said.

A video published by the Defense Ministry shows Russian drone units in action: a servicemember records data on a radio, then a strike drone appears on screen, followed by footage of strikes on targets, including in thermal-imaging mode. The ministry does not specify where or when the footage was recorded.

Weekly briefing

According to the briefing, Shilovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, as well as Vasylkove and Voskresenka in Zaporizhzhia region, also came under the control of Russian forces during the week. The ministry claims that Ukrainian military losses in the area of responsibility of the Sever force grouping exceeded 1,480 servicemembers during the week; five armored combat vehicles and 101 vehicles were also destroyed.

Strike drone in flight, footage from a video by Russia’s Defense Ministry