Russian forces storming town in E Ukraine

DONBAS, Oct 20 (Reuters/AP): Russian forces are fighting street-to-street battles with Ukrainian troops in the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Selydove as Moscow's forces push to gain control over the whole of the Donbas region, according to pro-Russian bloggers.

Russian forces, which President Vladimir Putin ordered into Ukraine in February 2022, advanced in September at their fastest rate since March 2022, according to open source data, despite Ukraine taking a part of Russia's Kursk region.

The thrust of the Russian advance over recent months has been in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, which Putin says he wants to gain full control over.

In recent weeks, Russia has surrounded towns in Donetsk region and then slowly constricted them until Ukrainian units are forced to withdraw. According to bloggers they are doing the same to Selydove, which had a pre-war population of over 20,000.

Meanwhile, Russian air defenses shot down more than 100 Ukrainian drones Sunday over Russia's western regions, Moscow officials said, while 17 people were injured in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih in a ballistic missile attack.

The Russian Defense Ministry said 110 drones were destroyed in the overnight barrage against seven Russian regions. Many targeted Russia's border region of Kursk, where 43 drones were reportedly shot down.