Bombardments are increasing in and around Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, with water supplies now cut, while Russian troops simultaneously press a new counterattack in the Kursk region.

A close ally of President Vladimir Putin warned Western governments on Thursday that a nuclear war would ensue if they gave the green light for Ukraine to use long-range Western weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.

Ukraine said it destroyed a large weapons stockpile in Russia overnight using long-range drones to stage the attack as Kyiv awaits US permission to use western-made missiles in such operations.