Russia's Defence Ministry on Friday accused Ukraine of blowing up a major Russian gas pumping and metering station near the Ukrainian border as Ukrainian forces retreated from the Kursk region, parts of which they had held since August last year.

Ukraine's military, quoting media, reported a strike early on Friday on a recently closed gas pumping and measuring station in western Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have been under pressure seven months after a cross-border incursion.