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.

"During the Kursk operation, the enemy has already lost 38,000 of their soldiers in this direction alone, with nearly 15,000 of these losses being irreversible," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

Ukrainian forces on Sunday launched a new offensive inside Russia's western Kursk border region, going on the attack with substantial forces.