Ukraine-Russia latest: Kyiv disputes that Putin’s forces have captured frontline Kurakhove as Kursk battle rages
Ukraine’s general staff says it is conducting new offensives in the Russian border region of Kursk
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Your support makes all the difference.Ukraine's army has said it is clinging on to part of Kurakhove, a strategic town in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk that Russia claims to have captured.
The Ukrainian army accused Russia of using scorched-earth tactics to "completely destroy" it.
"Ukrainian troops are holding on in the western part of the town, on the western outskirts of the town," Victor Tregubov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Khortytsia army unit, which is fighting in the area, said in an interview on national TV. "They are actually trying to dismantle the town brick by brick," Mr Tregubov said.
It comes as Russia has suffered heavy losses in five months of fighting Ukrainian forces in its border Kursk region, with nearly 15,000 of Vladimir Putin’s troops killed, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed.
“During the Kursk operation, the enemy has already lost 38,000 of their soldiers... with nearly 15,000 of these losses being irreversible,” Mr Zelensky said. Ukraine launched its surprise incursion inside Russia’s Kursk in August last year.
Over the weekend, Ukrainian soldiers renewed their offensive in a bid to gain as much territory as possible before Donald Trump enters office in Washington.
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The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday its forces were commencing new offensive operations in Russia’s western Kursk region.
The general staff also said on Telegram that Ukrainian troops had hit a Russian command post in the region on Tuesday.
“The strike and a series of recent operations... were coordinated with the Ukrainian Ground Forces who are currently commencing new offensive operations,” it said.
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Kyiv's army has said it is clinging on to part of Kurakhove, a strategic town in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk that Russia claims to have captured.
The Ukrainian army said Tuesday fighting was still ongoing on the fringes of the town and accused Russia of using scorched-earth tactics to "completely destroy" it.
"Ukrainian troops are holding on in the western part of the town, on the western outskirts of the town," Victor Tregubov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Khortytsia army unit, which is fighting in the area, said in an interview on national TV.
A "large part of the town has been destroyed", he said, adding that Russians were grinding through the area, clearing the town building by building.
"They are actually trying to dismantle the town brick by brick," Mr Tregubov said.
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Russian forces are advancing in the east, slowly but surely, and they are shrinking Ukraine’s partial hold of the border region of Kursk
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