Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Ukraine’s troops have recaptured territory in its eastern Luhansk region, Kyiv has said, as a map shows the latest state of play on the front line.Ukraine’s military reported that its troops had liberated the village of Nadiya following a 30-hour operation. Newsweek has yet to verify this. Ceasefire talks are taking place in Saudi Arabia involving Russian, Ukrainian and American delegations.Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.Why It MattersLuhansk Oblast is almost entirely occupied by Russian forces, and Kyiv will welcome small gains there amid talks on Monday in Riyadh. This is especially important as Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to believe he has the upper hand with gains in the east of Ukraine and success in pushing back Kyiv’s incursion into the Kursk region.
What To KnowThe village of Nadiya that Ukraine said it had captured is close to the border between Luhansk and Kharkiv regions. It was captured by Russia in March 2022, liberated in October 2022, before being occupied a second time.Ukraine’s Third Assault Brigade released video footage it said was from the operation in which armored vehicles fire across an open field and soldiers shoot in woods near to houses.Dead Russian soldiers can be seen in the clip, although the brigade, which consisted of Ukraine’s 1st Assault Battalion, did not reveal casualty numbers.Andriy Biletsky, commander of Ukraine’s Third Army Corps, said the operation wiped out two mechanized Russian regiments.The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said geolocated footage showed Ukrainian forces operating in northeastern Nadiya, east of Borova, indicating that Kyiv’s forces had recently seized the settlement.The independent think tank also cited a Russian source saying that the recapture shows unresolved issues in the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army, which include commanders submitting false reports about Russian advances.
File image: Ukrainian soldiers with the 33rd Separate Mechanized Brigade train on March 13, 2025 in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.
File image: Ukrainian soldiers with the 33rd Separate Mechanized Brigade train on March 13, 2025 in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.
Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
Ukraine’s General Staff reported 147 clashes along the front line on Sunday including a successful strike on Russian troops in a shelter in Toretsk, in the Donetsk Oblast, killing assault groups and drone operators; the ISW said Russian forces attacked near Toretsk itself.Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces continued limited attacks in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast. Kyiv said these included striking a Russian command and control post. Russian sources reported Kyiv’s advances into southern Demidovka.Two Russian Ka-52 and two Mi-8 helicopters were destroyed by Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces’ missile strikes in the Russian rear in Belgorod, the military branch reported on Monday.What People Are SayingAndriy Biletsky, commander of the Third Army Corps, said: “The capture of Nadiya cost the enemy two months of effort and two wiped out mechanized regiments—the 752nd and 254th 20th Russian Army.”What Happens NextU.S.-Russian talks in Riyadh on a ceasefire in Ukraine started on Monday, according to Russian state news agency TASS, and are expected to focus on a possible ceasefire in the Black Sea and a wider truce.
