A Russian war correspondent for state television died on Thursday from shrapnel wounds after a drone strike by Ukrainian armed forces in Russian-controlled southeastern Ukraine, state television said.

Russia has spent months stockpiling cruise missiles for a winter campaign and has now started using them, the UK MOD said.

Russian forces have unleashed a massive new offensive on the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, part of their campaign to secure control of the eastern Donbas region, the Ukrainian military said on Monday. Avdiivka is a key Ukrainian strongpoint just northwest of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in the eastern Donbas region.