What happened in the last few hours

Here is the most important news as of 9:30 p.m., on day 564 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:

Ukraine says it has made progress in several parts of the Donetsk region. Ukrainian troops near the town of Avdivka took advantage of the concentration of Russian forces in one sector to advance and capture part of the village of Opitne south of the town, said the head of the local military administration, Vitaliy Barabash.

kyiv says its troops have also advanced to Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian troops managed to advance about another 1.5 square kilometers near the liberated town of Robotin in the Zaporizhia region, according to the spokesman for the Tavria strategic operational group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Shtupun. He added that intense fighting is taking place on the Zaporizhia front.

Romania summons Russia’s charge d’affaires after the discovery of another Russian drone on its territory. The Secretary of State for Strategic Affairs, Iulian Fota, conveyed the official government protest, as reported by Romanian media, after the country’s authorities confirmed yesterday that they had located the remains of a second device near the border with Ukraine.

Russia concentrates more than 420,000 soldiers in Ukraine, according to kyiv intelligence services. “This is without counting the Russian Guard, other structures, special units and security forces of the Russian Federation that guarantee the occupying power over our territories,” said the deputy head of the General Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Federation. Ministry of Defense, Vadim. Skibitsky.

Russia reports that Putin’s party won elections in Ukraine’s annexed regions. Russia is trying to legitimize its annexations in Ukraine by organizing elections in the four occupied territories in the east and south of the country: Zaporozhye, Kherson, Donetsk and Lugansk. kyiv and its Western allies denounced these elections as “illegal”.