Russia said today that its forces were advancing in eastern Ukraine, while Kiev reported heavy airstrikes and called on the West to allow more retaliatory strikes inside Russian territory.

Moscow has stepped up airstrikes in recent weeks, seeking to repel a major Ukrainian offensive in Russia's Kursk region.

Since August 6, Kiev has led attacks on this region, located opposite the city of Sumy in eastern Ukraine, hoping to create a buffer zone there for Ukraine to protect its border population from Moscow's airstrikes. But two people were killed in a new Russian airstrike in Sumy.

– The enemy carried out an air attack on the city of Sumi last night. Two people died and four were wounded, including two children, the military administration of the region announced today on Telegram.

The mayor of Sumy, Oleksei Drozdenko, reported destroyed or damaged houses and cars.

Two women were killed in a Russian rocket attack on a village not far from the front line in the Donetsk region, the epicenter of the fighting, the regional prosecutor's office said.

Kiev launched its Kursk offensive in the hope of forcing Russia to deploy its troops currently advancing in the country's east. But Moscow appears to be stepping up its attacks there. August saw the largest Russian territorial gains there in almost two years.

The Russian army announced today that it has captured a town in eastern Ukraine and is advancing towards the strategically important Pokrovsk. "Russian forces have liberated the city of Novokhrodivka in the Donetsk region," the Russian Defense Ministry said. This small town is located twenty kilometers from Pokrovsk, an important logistical center of the Ukrainian army.