Russian troops have occupied more than 300 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory this year, according to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. “Last week, the Ukrainian armed forces were driven out of the villages of Pobyeda, Lastochkyne and Severne,” Shoigu said at a meeting of the ministry in Moscow on Tuesday. He put the area gained by the Russian army since the beginning of the year at 327 square kilometres. The figures could not initially be independently verified. On Monday, the Ukrainian army announced a retreat to new defence positions west of the industrial city of Avdiivka, which had be…