Russia has removed a senior commander from his post for making false claims about the progress of the war in some parts of eastern Ukraine, according to military bloggers and Russian media.

Russia has removed a senior general in Ukraine for giving misleading reports about the progress of the war as Defence Minister Andrei Belousov tries to clear out poor commanders, pro-Russian war bloggers and Russian media said.

"Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons," says president Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he warns Russia wants to "spread fear and panic".

Ukraine has lost over 40% of the territory in Russia's Kursk region that it captured in a surprise incursion in August as Russian forces have mounted waves of counter-assaults, a senior Ukrainian military source said.

In a stark warning to the West, President Putin said the attack with the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was in retaliation for Kyiv’s use of U.S. and British longer-range missiles.