Russia has claimed that its forces captured a battered but strategic town in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, a day after Kyiv launched a counterattack in the Russian region of Kursk.

Russia claims that its forces have captured the front-line town of Kurakhove in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. The town has borne the brunt of Russian advances in recent months and is a stepping-stone to the key logistical hub of Pokrovsk.

When the deadly Grenfell Tower blaze in 2017 led to revelations that high-rise public housing buildings across Britain were wrapped in flammable cladding, the government vowed the building contractors responsible would pay for their negligence.

"Russian and North Korean military leaders are treating these troops as expendable," a senior White House official said.

A recording has surfaced on social media showing North Korean M1989 Koksan self-propelled howitzers on the front line in Ukraine. According to some experts, these images are a clear signal to the world and evidence of the deteriorating state of Russian artillery,