Russia said on Monday its forces had made important gains in eastern Ukraine while continuing to fend off a new Ukrainian offensive inside the Kursk region of western Russia, where a second day of fierce fighting was under way.

Russia said on Sunday that Ukraine had launched a counter-attack in the Kursk region, an area of western Russia from which Russian troops have been trying to eject Ukrainian forces for the past five months.

Russia said on Monday its forces had made important gains in eastern Ukraine while continuing to fend off a new Ukrainian offensive inside the Kursk region of western Russia, where a second day of fierce fighting was under way.

Russia has claimed that its forces captured a battered but strategic town in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, a day after Kyiv launched a counterattack in the Russian region of Kursk.

Ukraine has denied Russian claims that they have captured a key town in the eastern Donetsk region, but admitted that the situation looks desperate. Russia claimed control of the eastern town of Kurakhove on Monday,

Russia's Defense Ministry is claiming that its troops in eastern Ukraine have captured the town of Kurakhove after a months-long battle.

Ukraine said Tuesday its forces struck a Russian military "command post" in Russia's Kursk region during "combat operations," while backtracking on a claim it had launched a fresh offensive in the border area.