During a video conference with president Vladimir Putin, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, General Walerij Gierasimov, announced that the Russian troops had driven Ukrainian forces out of the border village of Gornal – the last point occupied by the AFU in the region. "The plans of the Kiev government to make alleged strategical bridgeheads and disrupt our offensive activities in Donbasa have failed," said Gierasimov.