Russia claims gains in eastern Ukraine town

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.

The Russian defence ministry said its forces had captured the town of Kurakhove, 32 km (20 miles) south of Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian logistics hub towards which Russian forces have been advancing for months.

The ministry said taking Kurakhove, which had held out for many weeks, would enable Moscow’s forces to step up the pace of their advance in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. It also said it had captured Dachenske, a settlement within five miles of Pokrovsk.

Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of forces, told Reuters that, as of Monday morning, Kyiv’s forces were continuing to engage with Russian troops inside Kurakhove.

Ukrainian monitoring group DeepState, which tracks the front line using open sources, showed most of Kurakhove under Russian control.

Both sides are fighting to improve their battlefield positions before Donald Trump, who has pledged to bring a quick end to the nearly three-year-old war, takes office as US president on January 20.

Kyiv refutes

Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of forces, said Kyiv’s forces were continuing to engage with Russian troops inside Kurakhove. The town is a key stronghold for the Ukrainian army on the eastern front line. It has an industrial zone, a thermal power plant and a reservoir. It also sits on a highway running between eastern and southern Ukraine.