Ukrainian forces have admitted that Russia's military have crossed into the eastern industrial region of Dnipropetrovsk and are trying to establish a foothold. This is the first attack of such a large scale in Dnipropetrovsk region, Viktor Trehubov, of the Dnipro Operational-Strategic Group of Troops told the BBC, although he made clear their advance had been stopped. Russia has claimed throughout the summer that it has entered the area, as its forces try to push deeper into Ukrainian territory from the Donetsk region. In early June, Russian officials said an offensive had begun in Dnipropetrovsk, although the latest Ukrainian reports suggest they have barely breached the regional border. Any Russian advance into Dnipropetrovsk would be a blow to Ukrainian morale, as a US-led diplomatic bid to bring the war to an end appears to be flagging despite President Donald Trump meeting Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The Ukrainian DeepState mapping project assessed on Tuesday that Russia had now occupied two villages just inside the region, Zaporizke and Novohryhorivka. However, Ukraine's armed forces general staff denied that was the case. The military continue to control Zaporizke, it said in a statement, and active hostilities are also ongoing in the area of the village of Novohryhorivka. Moscow has not laid claim to Dnipropetrovsk, unlike Donetsk and Ukraine's four other eastern regions, but it has attacked its big cities, including the regional capital Dnipro. Before the war Dnipropetrovsk had a population of more than three million and was Ukraine's second biggest centre of heavy industry after the Donbas. Although Russian forces have made slow progress, they have made recent gains in Donetsk. By the end of last week, hopes for diplomatic breakthroughs had dimmed, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stating that any discussions on future security guarantees without Russian involvement would be pointless.