Ukraine has launched a military counterattack in the southern Russian Kursk region, a move officials said was designed to stop a Russian offensive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will urge allies to boost his country's air defenses at a meeting this week in Germany.

Kyiv renewed its offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, as Ukraine tries to hold territory there ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. Since Ukraine’s initial incursion into Kursk in August — the first invasion of Russia since World War II — Moscow has regained much of its lost territory.