Once home to 18,000 people, this bombed-out town has been turned into rubble over the past few months. The question now is: will it open the road to Pokrovsk, a major logistics hub for Ukraine in the eastern front?

Russia’s Defense Ministry is claiming that its troops in eastern Ukraine have captured the town of Kurakhove after a monthslong battle

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that some 38,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded fighting in Russia's western Kursk region since August.

It comes after Ukraine said it was behind a drone strike on a Russian oil base in the region. Submit your questions for our correspondents in the box below.

The claim, which drew no response from Ukrainian authorities, came a day after the Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces had launched a new thrust in Russia’s Kursk border region.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on Monday that Russian troops in eastern Ukraine have captured the city of Kurakhove after a monthslong battle. Kurakhove is a key stronghold for the Ukrainian army on the eastern front line, and includes an industrial zone, a thermal power plant and a reservoir.

Russia's defense ministry says its troops have taken control of a logistics support base of Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. It asserts that the move will help strengthen its offensive in Donetsk.

Russian troops shelled the city of Siversk in Donetsk Oblast with tubed artillery on Thursday, 9 January, killing two civilians. Source: Anastasiia Medvedieva, spokesperson for Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office,

Four people were killed on Thursday in instances of shelling in Ukraine, one blamed on Russia's military, the other on Ukrainian forces, regional officials said.