Russia Takes New Village Near Hub Of Pokrovsk; Drone Debris Hits Outside Ukraine's Parliament

On Saturday Russia's defense ministry (MoD) has announced the capture of another village in Eastern Ukraine as its forces close in on the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk. 

Moscow forces "have liberated the village of Kalynove" in the Donetsk region, which is about 16 miles southeast of Ukraine-held Pokrovsk.

Pokrovsk is the crossroads city of some 60,000 people seen as vital to Kiev's defense efforts. The fears in the West are that if it falls, the whole of Donetsk will be easily taken by Russia, and so will all of the Donbass region.

Ukraine authorities have already ordered an evacuation of all children and young people from the city amid the months-long Russian advance. Moscow has recently said it captured a string of villages in the area, and all of these maneuvers are seen as aiding in capturing the ultimate prize of Pokrovsk.

President Putin reiterated Thursday in a talk that capturing and solidifying all of the Donbass under Russian rule remains the "primary objective" of the 'special military operation'.

But there are conflicting reports over just how fast the Russian advance is occurring. Ukraine has on Saturday said its military recaptured part of nearby Niu-York:

In an interview with CNN, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, confirmed that Russia did not advance in Pokrovsk on Thursday.

"Over the last six days the enemy hasn't advanced a single meter in the Pokrovsk direction," he told the outlet.

So once again the competing narratives from the two warring side flatly contradict each other.

Unusual or new drone technologies continue to appear on the Ukraine battlefield...

Overnight there was another Russian aerial onslaught. Ukraine's Air Force claimed to have intercepted 58 out of 67 long-range drones sent in the new barrage.

Al Jazeera, citing local media, also reported this detail: "Debris from a downed drone was also found next to Ukraine’s parliament building in the capital, Kyiv, the Verkhovna Rada said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app on Saturday."

There were no reports of casualties from this latest drone attack. Prior Russian ballistic missile attacks from earlier this week, however, have resulted in scores of casualties.