"The situation in Kurakhove is really quite difficult right now, because a significant part of the city has been destroyed," Khortytsia group of forces spokesperson Viktor Trehubov said on national television Jan.

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.

Russian forces have fully captured the city of Kurakhove in Ukraine’s east, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on January 6. Ukrainian officials have yet to confirm this claim.

Russian forces are trying to destroy the buildings of Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast, while the Ukraineʼs defence forces are holding the western part of the town. Source: Major Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for the Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group of Forces,

GMT

Ukraine has largely been driven out of Kurakhove, a battered but strategic town in the Donbas, Russia said. Kyiv’s forces were pressing a renewed offensive in southern Russia.

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,