Russian forces have overrun two front-line villages, a Ukrainian army sergeant said Monday, after relentless assaults that are part of a Kremlin summer push to overwhelm battlefield defenses in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.

"They pressed non-stop" to capture the villages of Vovche and Prohres, the chief sergeant of Ukraine's 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade told Radio Svaboda. "They sent in a large number of troops, which had not previously been used." His name was not given for security reasons.