Ukrainian troops have reportedly seized a small village on the Russian-occupied eastern bank of Dneipr after crossing the river from the liberated city of Kherson, according to Russian accounts on Tuesday.

A small Ukrainian force has managed to dig in to the village of Dachi after making a landing there a few days ago and are trying to expand the beachhead. Ukrainian troops in small boats crossed the river and landed at the base of the ruined Antonivskiy Bridge, which they destroyed last year.

Russian military bloggers reported very heavy fighting on Tuesday, saying Russian airborne units have been trying unsuccessfully to dislodge the Ukrainians for the past four days. Russian aviation and heavy artillery have been firing on the Ukrainian position.

So far, the Russian side claims some 70 Ukrainian soldiers are dug in, covered by intense artillery fire from across the river. The Russian accounts say Ukraine is trying to move reinforcements across. Video released by Ukraine also shows a Russian APC being destroyed in the village of Oleshkjy, further south, indicating the bank south of Kherson is now contested.

Ukrainian troops have also managed to advance and liberate Rivnopil, a village on the Zaporozhzhia front, breaking through after more than two weeks of fighting. It's notable because the Russians had been fighting hard to hold it.

Taken together the advance there, the landing in Kherson and advances near Bakhmut are small signs the Ukrainian counteroffensive may be starting to pick up steam and the Russians are coming under growing pressure.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

The Russian military and security forces stopped what could have become a "civil war," President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

"The Russian military in a difficult hour for the country stood in the way of turmoil, the result of which would be chaos," Putin said at an event for military units, adding that "the military and law enforcement officers of the Russian Federation actually stopped the civil war."

Defense Minister Shoigu, who the Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's had sought to have replaced, was present at Tuesday's ceremony.

-ABC News' Tanya Stukalova

The Russian Federal Security Service on Tuesday dropped the criminal case investigating the rebellion by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his forces.

The FSB said it closed the case because it has been established that participants stopped actions directly aimed at committing a crime.

-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva

The military in Belarus was ordered to "full combat readiness" during the Wagner Group's rebellion in neighboring Russia, President Alexander Lukashenko said.

Lukashenko, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was said to have helped broker a deal to halt the choatic rebellion by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

"I will not hide, it was painful to watch the events that took place in the south of Russia," Lukashenko said Tuesday during brief remarks before a military presentation. "Not only me. Many of our citizens took them to heart. Because the fatherland is one."

The fatherland comment appeared to allude to Lukashenko's longstanding belief that Russia and Belarus share a special bond.

He added, "I gave all orders to bring the army to full combat readiness."

-ABC News' Victoria Beaule

Russia on Friday vehemently denied having any involvement in the mysterious plane crash that is believed to have killed Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

"There has been a lot of speculation around this crash [and] the tragic deaths of the plane's passengers, among them Yevgeny Prigozhin. Of course, the West presents all this speculation from a particular angle. All of that is sheer lies," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters while answering questions during a press briefing. "One should rely on facts. For now, there are not many facts, they have yet to be established in the ongoing investigative procedures."

Prigozhin, 62, was a former close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. His private paramilitary organization played a key role in Putin's invasion of neighboring Ukraine before briefly launching an insurrection against the Russian military in June. Forces loyal to Prigozhin marched toward Moscow before turning back after several days.

A private jet was en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Wednesday when it went down near the village of Kuzhenkino in Russia's Tver region, north of Moscow. All 10 people on board were killed. Prigozhin and Wagner Group co-founder Dmitry Utkin were among the passengers identified on a flight list, according to Russian officials.

The U.S. Department of Defense said Thursday that Prigozhin was "likely" killed in the plane crash.