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.

General Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the "South" military group, was dismissed for falsely reporting the capture of a town in eastern Ukraine. This information was reported on Saturday by independent Russian websites,

The escalatory attack comes after Ukraine reportedly used US and UK long range missiles to strike targets inside Russia

Tit-for-tat moves this week included the use of American-made ballistic missiles to strike inside Russia, and new nuclear threats from Moscow. Neither appear to have influenced the war on the ground.