Battle rages in western Russia as Moscow reports gains in Ukraine

Kyiv's offensive in Kursk continues, while Russia says it has taken key Ukrainian town

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Russia said on Jan 6 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, which lies 32km south of Pokrovsk, an important Ukrainian logistics hub towards which Russia has 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 8km of Pokrovsk.

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

Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces said Russian forces continued to attack Kurakhove, but the Ukrainian side was working to identify and repel Russian assault groups on that part of the front.

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