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.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - 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.