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Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the Ukrainian military's denial of the presence of Russian troops in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Russian forces continue their efforts to break into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine's Southern Defense Forces reported on June 8, saying that the situation around the 31st Separate Brigade's positions remains "tense."
"The enemy has not abandoned its plans to enter Dnipropetrovsk Oblast," the Southern Defense Forces wrote on Telegram. "Our soldiers are bravely and professionally holding their section of the front, thwarting the occupier's plans."
The comment follows the Russian Defense Ministry's June 8 claim that its forces had entered Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Despite the claims, Major Andrii Kovalev, a spokesperson for Ukraine's General Staff denied Russian troop presence in the region.
"The information is not true. Fighting is ongoing in Donetsk Oblast. The enemy did not enter Dnipropetrovsk Oblast," Kovalev told Ukrainska Pravda.
In a separate statement to CNN, Viktor Trehubov, a spokesperson for for Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces said that "the Russians are constantly spreading false information that they have entered the Dnipropetrovsk region from the Pokrovsk and Novopavlivka directions, but (in neither place) is this information true.”
The 31st Brigade is deployed in the Novopavlivka direction, where Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts converge. Since 2014, Russian aggression has heavily impacted Donetsk Oblast, while Dnipropetrovsk Oblast has remained free from direct incursions.
The denials from Ukraine's militaary come amid continuing Russian offensives in eastern and northern Ukraine, along with escalating diplomatic efforts that have yet to yield a ceasefire.
President Volodymyr Zelensky's Deputy Chief of Staff Pavlo Palisa said on June 6 that Russia aims to occupy all Ukrainian territory east of the Dnipro River and advance toward Odesa and Mykolaiv in a broader plan to sever Ukraine's access to the Black Sea, amid a renewed summer offensive.
On May 21, Ukrainian officials rejected similar claims that Russian troops had reached Dnipropetrovsk Oblast's administrative boundary.
Serhii Lysak, head of the regional military administration, called the reports "fake," citing doctored photos allegedly showing Russian soldiers in the area.
The Ukrainian monitoring project DeepState analyzed one such image and determined it had been taken in Troitske, a village in Donetsk Oblast.
As a precaution, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast began mandatory evacuations of children and families from four front-line villages in late April — Kolona Mezhova, Novopidhorodne, Raipole, and Sukhareva Balka — located just 5 to 15 kilometers from Russian positions.
Despite the lack of verified ground incursions, Dnipropetrovsk has endured frequent Russian missile, drone, and aerial attacks since the full-scale invasion began.
The ongoing Russian advance occurs as peace efforts remain stalled, and U.S.-brokered negotiations have failed to achieve a ceasefire.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
