Ukraine hits Russia's infantry brigade command post in Kursk Oblast, military claims In historic record, Ukrainian F-16 pilot downs 6 cruise missiles in single mission, Air Force claims Trump blames Biden for provoking Russia's war by supporting Ukraine's NATO aspirations Ukraine says it holds Kurakhove's western outskirts despite Russia's claim of capture Ukrainian soldiers struck on Jan.

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 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 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 and are also fighting to envelop the larger nearby city of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian soldiers and officials said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Russia had suffered heavy losses in five months of fighting Ukrainian forces in southern Russia's Kursk region, with nearly 15,000 killed.