Ukrainian Village Novotoshkivske Leveled by Russian Forces, Photos Show

The aftermath of the Ukrainian village Novotoshkivske being almost completely destroyed by Russian forces has been captured in images shared online.

Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai confirmed that Russian forces had seized Novotoshkivske on Monday, while noting that the village had been largely destroyed. The destruction included multiple residential buildings, educational facilities and "all hospitals," according to the Ukrainian state-run news agency Ukrinform. A video released to social media on the same day appeared to show buildings in the village either entirely reduced to rubble or severely damaged.

"The town of Novotoshkivs'ke has been severely bombed, almost leveled, by Russia," Emil Filtenborg, a Danish journalist who was shot and wounded during the early days of the war, commented while sharing the video. "If it interests anyone, this is in fact Novotoshkivs'ke. #UkraineWar"

In a message shared to Telegram alongside an image of the bombed-out village, Haidai said that the occupying Russian forces found that there was "nothing to capture" in Novotoshkivske when they arrived after it had been destroyed.

"After causing destruction with air strikes, [Russians] occupied Novotoshkivske, which is part of the Hirska military and civil administration," Haidai wrote. "Fighting continues for other settlements of the community, the enemy tactics remains the same—to level everything to the ground."

Haidai previously said that an earlier Russian attempt to take Novotoshkivske was repelled by Ukrainian forces on April 6, according to Interfax-Ukraine. The destruction of the village on Monday comes after the Russian military increased its focus on Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, which contains the Luhansk and Donetsk quadrants.

Russian officials have said that victory in Donbas is one of the key objectives that the military intends to achieve during its so-called "special military operation," in addition to the supposed "denazification" of the country.

Last week, Alexey Polishchuk of the Russian Foreign Ministry's second CIS department, told the state-owned news agency TASS that the war would end when Moscow achieved the "protection of the peaceful population of Donbas, demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine."

On Friday, Russian Major General Rustam Minnekaev told Russian media that the nation's military had been tasked with establishing "complete control over Donbas and southern Ukraine."

A recent briefing from U.K. defense officials indicated that Russian President Vladimir Putin was hoping for significant gains in time to celebrate during Moscow's annual "Victory Day" celebrations on May 9, which commemorate the Soviet Union's role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II.

A senior U.S. Defense Department official said on Sunday that the battle for Donbas was far from decided, saying that Russian forces were facing difficulties in attempting to attack the region from the north due largely to effective Ukrainian resistance.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian government for comment.