9:14 a.m. ET, February 21, 2024
Russia says it has captured the key village of Krynky in the Kherson region. Ukraine denies claim
By CNN's Mariya Knight, Vasco Cotovio, Mariakostenko, Nick Paton Walsh, Benjamin Brown and Gianluca Mezzofiore Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed on Tuesday that Krynky, a small river village on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Ukraine's southern Kherson region currently “completely” under Russian control.
Shoigu described Krynky as “a stronghold” for his troops, “for further advance and deployment of troops.”
Ukraine's operational command rejected Shoigu's claim, describing it as “manipulation and falsification of facts.”
“The Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine continue to hold their positions and inflict significant losses on the enemy,” the command said.
Video shared by pro-Ukrainian bloggers shows Russian soldiers raising a flag in the area but then fleeing, seemingly contradicting Shoigu's claim. CNN was unable to geolocate the footage or independently verify the status of the battlefield.
In the fall, Russian officials expressed concern about Ukraine gaining a foothold in Krynky.
Elsewhere on the battlefield: In eastern Ukraine, footage geolocated by CNN on Wednesday showed Russian forces raising their flag over the Donetsk village of Pobieda, near Mariinka. Russian military bloggers said Ukrainian forces had “withdrawn” and were regrouping in positions in the south.
In southern Ukraine, Moscow has been pushing east and north along the Zaporizhzhia front towards Robotyne and west towards Mala Tokmachka for weeks.
Russia claimed on Wednesday that it had inflicted heavy losses on Ukrainian forces in the region, but stopped short of saying it had made any visible gains. Ukraine also claimed that it had inflicted heavy losses on Russian units.
CNN was unable to independently verify either the Ukrainian or Russian claims.
This post has been updated with more details from the battlefields in Ukraine.