Ukraine said on Friday that its troops had captured a village near the Russian stronghold of Lyman in the eastern Donetsk region, hours after Moscow-backed forces reported "alarming" news from the area.

The defense ministry tweeted a photo of what it said were Ukrainian troops in Drobysheve, some six miles to the north west of Lyman, which was taken by Russia in May after an extended battle.

Lyman has been at the center of renewed fighting since Ukraine routed Russian forces in the nearby Kharkiv region in a lightning counteroffensive this month.

The head of the Russian-backed administration in the Donetsk region said earlier on Friday that Lyman was "semi-encircled" by the Ukrainian army and that news from the front was "alarming."

In a message posted on Telegram, Denis Pushilin admitted that his forces no longer fully controlled either Drobysheve or Yampil, just to the south east of Lyman.