On the front lines in the Kursk region, Russian military bloggers and the US-based Institute for the Study of War said that fighting was fierce and that both sides were claiming to have taken ground. Russian attacks since the start of October have reportedly retaken half of the territory held by Ukraine in the area.

Ukraine had attacked Russia in August, hoping to divert Russian soldiers from the main front line in Donbas, but instead the invasion appears to have weakened its own front lines and pulled North Korea into the war.

‘Fiercely contested’

Elsewhere on the front line, Russian forces continued to push forward. The Ministry of Defence said that Russian soldiers had now crossed a canal that runs through the centre of the town of Chasiv Yar, about 50 miles north of Donetsk city, for the first time since July.

“However, it is highly likely that the central and northern parts of the canal district remain fiercely contested with Russian forces unable to consolidate in these areas,” it said.

Overnight, Ukrainian drones hit two alcohol distilleries in Russia’s southern Voronezh region.