Villagers left their houses several years ago as Russian-backed forces had terrorized the local population.

The Joint Forces of Ukraine have retaken an uninhabited village in the "gray zone" near the town of Volnovakha, Donetsk region.

Ukrainian troops advanced 1.2 km forward amid a special operation, NGO Back and Alive said on Facebook on October 10.

"The village where there were 80 residents before the war is located in the so-called 'gray zone,'" it said.

Despite an agreed ceasefire, Russia's hybrid military forces used the village as a base to open fire on Ukrainian positions.

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Locals left the village several years ago, as Russian-backed terrorists had held the local population in fear, and then looted their destroyed houses.

The village has turned to be a minefield. Russian-made PMN-2 anti-personnel mines, which are prohibited by the Geneva Convention, were planted there.

"Judging from how they were 'arranged,' they were planted by professional servicemen," it said.

Russian-made dry rations whose labels indicated the place of production facilities, for example, Perm and Moscow, as well as remnants of ammunition of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with erased markings were found in the "gray zone," it said.