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.

The Russian defense ministry said its forces had captured the town of Kurakhove, 32 kilometers south of Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian logistics hub toward which Russian forces have been advancing for months.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow had suffered big losses in five months of fighting in Russia¡¯s Kursk region with nearly 15,000 killed. He made no mention of Kurakhove.