Russia claims recapture of eastern Ukraine village

The Russian defence ministry says its troops have recaptured the village of Klishchiivka in eastern Ukraine.

Russian forces initially occupied the village near the key city of Bakhmut in early 2023 but it was retaken by Ukraine later that year during a counteroffensive.

Russia said its troops gained control of Klishchiivka "as a result of offensive operations".

Ukrainian authorities had said earlier on Wednesday that the situation in the village was "under control".

Russia has been waging a bloody war on Ukraine since February 2022.

In recent months, it has exploited a fall in foreign ammunitions supplies to Ukraine to make renewed advances in the north and east of the country.

Klischchiivka is the latest village to change hands for a third time during the conflict.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is continuing to collect pledges for the planned peace summit in Switzerland in mid-June.

"Today I spoke with the heads of state and prime ministers of Chile, Albania, Austria and Mozambique," Zelenskiy said in his regular video message on Wednesday evening.

"Four more countries at the summit - I thank them."

It is already known that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be travelling to the meeting on behalf of Germany.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer will also attend the meeting on June 15-16 near the Swiss city of Lucerne, the chancellery confirmed in Vienna.

Nehammer called the conference an important step towards making peace possible again.

What was needed was a "broad alliance of allies for peace, also outside the echo chambers of the EU," Nehammer said.

The summit, organised by Switzerland at Ukraine's request, is intended to mobilise more international support for the country.

Ukraine is hoping to convince neutral states or states in the global south that are friendly with Russia of the correctness of its position.

China in particular is being courted.

The aim is to involve about 80 countries in the summit.

This first step is not about negotiations with Russia; officials from the Kremlin have not been invited.

"Russian aggression has tried to turn the UN Charter into a museum piece," Zelensky said in Kyiv.

"Our peace summit and the participation of leading politicians from all over the world can restore the UN Charter to full effectiveness and full protection for all nations."