Russia has claimed to have captured the key logistics hub of Kurakhove in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region on Monday.

Moscow’s defence ministry said units of its Southern group of troops had “liberated” the industrial town, which had held on for weeks after intense Russian attacks.

The ministry added: “Over the course of ten years, the Kyiv regime has turned it into a powerful fortified area with a developed network of long-term fire points and underground communications.” 

The city sits on a major highway connecting the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk to the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, a significant regional capital.

Kurakhove is also around 30 kilometres south of the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, another important logistics hub that underpins Kyiv’s defence in the east of the country.