Russia claims to have taken another eastern Ukraine town

A Russian self-propelled multiple rocket launcher Uragan (Hurricane) is fired toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in the Kursk region border area (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed on Friday that its forces had captured the mining town of Toretsk in their latest breakthrough in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, where Ukrainian defences are creaking.

Ukrainian officials did not immediately make any comments on the Russian claim.