Ukraine has launched a military counterattack in the southern Russian Kursk region, a move officials said was designed to stop a Russian offensive.

Russian forces continue to make costly but consistent gains in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. They are steadily grinding down a pocket of resistance around the town of Kurakhove in the southern Donbas region and are also fighting to envelop the larger city of Pokrovsk to the north, Ukrainian soldiers and officials said.

Ukrainian forces on Sunday launched a surprise attack in the Russian border region of Kursk, causing a major dent in Moscow’s military operation in Eastern Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will urge allies to boost his country's air defenses at a meeting this week in Germany.

Russia said Sunday that Ukraine had launched a "counterattack" in the western border region of Kursk, where Kyiv's forces began a shock ground offensive last August.- Airports shut - Both Russia and Ukraine have exchanged regular attacks since the year began.

Russian shelling, meanwhile, killed at least one person and wounded another in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, local officials said.

Ukraine appeared to launch a fresh offensive Sunday in Russia’s border region of Kursk, where Kyiv’s forces have held territory for several months.

Russia said Ukraine had launched a "counterattack" in the western border region of Kursk, where Kyiv's forces began a shock ground offensive last August.

The Kremlin on Saturday vowed "retaliation" for what it said was Ukraine's use of American-made Army Tactical Missile Systems against targets in a Russian border region.

Ukraine reportedly used U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles to strike Russia’s Belgorod region, escalating tensions to new heights. Russia claims all eight missiles were intercepted by advanced air defense systems.