Summary of the day
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said his country’s forces are continuing to advance into Russian territory following their surprise offensive, as a Kyiv said it had launched a “major” drone attack on four Russian airbases.
The Ukrainian president said “we are advancing in the Kursk region, one to two kilometres in various areas since the beginning of the day. We have captured more than 100 Russian servicemen during this period.”
The deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said Kyiv is creating a “security zone” in the Kursk region and plans to organise humanitarian assistance and evacuation corridors for civilians.
Ukraine carried out its largest drone attack yet on four Russian military airfields.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, declared a state of emergency.
The Russian foreign ministry’s special envoy, Rodion Miroshnik, said Ukraine has put the issue of peace talks with Russia “on a long pause” by attacking the Kursk region.
A German military base was sealed off as authorities investigate suspected sabotage.
German media reported that prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man over the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, has met with James O’Brien, the US assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs.
Footage filmed by a Ukrainian TV station showed the moment forces pulled down a Russian flag from a building in the town of Sudzha, in the Kursk region.
Ukraine planning evacuation corridors for civilians in Kursk, says deputy PM
As Ukraine’s Kursk incursion continues, Ukrainian officials say they are addressing the issue of humanitarian assistance.
The deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said Kyiv is creating a “security zone” in the Kursk region and plans to organise humanitarian assistance and evacuation corridors for civilians looking to go either to Russia or to Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, said he attended a meeting on the situation in Kursk.
“We discussed key issues: security, humanitarian aid, and, if necessary, the establishment of military commandant’s offices,” he said.
The Ukrainian president added:
Ukraine is defending itself and the lives of its people in border communities while also taking active steps on Russian territory. Our forces strictly adhere to the requirements of international conventions and humanitarian law.
Meeting on the situation in the Kursk region. We discussed key issues: security, humanitarian aid, and, if necessary, the establishment of military commandant’s offices.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 14, 2024
Ukraine is defending itself and the lives of its people in border communities while also taking active steps… pic.twitter.com/fdECTBzhPD
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A Nato base in Geilenkirchen was not sealed off but the security level was raised after the incident in Cologne, a spokesperson said, Reuters reported.
Here are some of the latest images from Ukraine.
A NATO air base in the German town of Geilenkirchen was sealed off due to a suspected case of sabotage this morning, a spokesperson for the German military’s Territorial Command in Berlin said, Reuters reported.
Sabotage suspected at German base providing military support for Ukraine
A German military base that is an important hub for support for Ukraine was sealed off on Wednesday as authorities investigate suspected sabotage, the defence ministry said.
Agence France-Presse said media had reported the water supply may have been tampered with.
The Cologne-Wahn base “has been locked down because there is a suspicion of an attempted intrusion and a suspicion of sabotage,” defence ministry spokesman Colonel Arne Collatz told reporters in Berlin.
Der Spiegel magazine reported that police and the German military’s counter-intelligence service were investigating an apparent break-in, with its sources saying a hole in the fence had been discovered.
Soldiers and civilians on the Bundeswehr base have been advised not to drink the tap water, Spiegel added, over concerns that the water supply “may be contaminated”.
The Cologne-Wahn base, located near Cologne-Bonn airport, houses several military and civilian facilities of the German armed forces as well as aircraft used by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his ministers for government travel.
Some 4,300 soldiers and 1,200 civilians work at the site, according to Spiegel.
The base is also an important hub for military support for Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers regularly fly home from there, via Poland, after receiving training in Germany.
Here is some footage of the damaged pipeline from October 2022:
Updated
Ukraine has carried out its largest drone attack yet on four Russian military airfields, a Ukrainian security source told Reuters on Wednesday.
The attack was aimed at undermining Russia’s ability to use warplanes for glide bomb attacks, the source added.
Earlier Ukrainian troops said they had shot down a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber.
Updated
Ukraine 'advancing in the Kursk region', Zelenskiy says while 'not forgetting our eastern front'
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said today that “we are not forgetting our eastern front for a second.”
“I have instructed the commander-in-chief to strengthen this direction using the equipment and supplies currently provided by our partners,” he noted.
The Ukrainian president also said “we are advancing in the Kursk region, one to two kilometers in various areas since the beginning of the day. We have captured more than 100 Russian servicemen during this period.”
Morning report by Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on the situation across all major directions, particularly in the Toretsk and Pokrovsk areas, as well as the operation in the Kursk region.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 14, 2024
We are not forgetting our eastern front for a second. I have instructed the… pic.twitter.com/5RE6EgLFn8
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Ukraine’s military has said its forces in the Kursk region shot down a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber.
🇺🇦 Defense forces destroyed the enemy Su-34 aircraft. The sky over the Kursk region became clearer — @CinC_AFU pic.twitter.com/eUZHtiBnr0
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 14, 2024
Сьогодні вночі на території Курської області (рф), під час виконання бойового завдання, силами і засобами зенітних ракетних військ ПС ЗС України було знищено російський винищувач-бомбардувальник Су-34.
— Генеральний штаб ЗСУ (@GeneralStaffUA) August 14, 2024
Робота з ліквідації окупантів, їхньої техніки та озброєння триває невпинно. pic.twitter.com/cebs0veogw
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Kristen Michal, the Estonian prime minister, has said “we must continue to show our steadfast support to Ukraine and further raise the cost of war for Russia.”
Had a good exchange of thoughts with you, @alexstubb.
— Kristen Michal (@KristenMichalPM) August 14, 2024
Estonia and Finland have excellent security cooperation, both regionally and in NATO.
We must continue to show our steadfast support to Ukraine and further raise the cost of war for Russia. pic.twitter.com/mvEDM5qtM7
The Polish national public prosecutor’s office has said that Volodymyr Z., who is wanted by German authorities in connection to the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, was not arrested in Poland as he fled to Ukraine in early July, Reuters reported.
At the Sudzha crossing where Ukrainian troops pushed into Russia nerves are tense
The journey from the Ukrainian city of Sumy to the Russian border is short. In about three-quarters of an hour it is possible to arrive at a smashed-up Ukrainian border post and stare over two simple lines of fencing into Russian fields to the right. Except the territory beyond is no longer under Kremlin control.
The Sudzha crossing is now 5 miles or so from the current frontline inside Russia’s Kursk oblast. For now at least, it remains very much in Ukrainian hands a full week into the border incursion; on a brief visit what could be heard were the pops of outgoing artillery, not the crumps of incoming shells.
Edgy military guards, clips of rifle ammunition tucked into chest pouches, blocked further progress into Russia, a swathe of territory that Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it had no interest in permanently occupying. Instead, it said the attack was justified “to protect the lives of our people” – part of a creative attempt at self-defence, striking where the Russians are weakest.
The crossing fell on the first day of Ukraine’s incursion, and videos released by Ukrainian sources showed a few dozen Russian border guards surrendering, overwhelmed by a surprise, mobile attack. But though severely damaged on the Ukrainian side, most of the destruction was caused earlier in the war: the most notable evidence of the incursion was old debris swept aside to clear the road.
Eight days on, in an area of few roads and remote uncultivated fields, Ukrainian military vehicles, all marked with distinctive white painted or taped triangles are still on the move. Ukrainian sources say Kyiv has committed thousands of the troops to the raid, but what is also notable is the number of armoured vehicles in the region, many more than at other points in the two-and-a-half-year-long war.
Ukraine has put the issue of peace talks with Russia “on a long pause” by attacking the Kursk region, the Russian foreign ministry’s special envoy, Rodion Miroshnik, said today, Reuters reported citing TASS.
German prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man over the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, AFP reported citing German media.
A European arrest warrant was requested in June for the man, named only as Volodymyr Z., whose last known address is in Poland, and who is now believed to have taken flight.
German investigators believe the man was one of the divers who planted explosive devices on the Nord Stream pipelines.
Governor of Russia’s Belgorod region declares state of emergency
Meanwhile, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, has declared a state of emergency, Reuters reported.
He said:
The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be extremely difficult and tense.
Therefore, we are making a decision, starting today, to declare a regional emergency situation throughout the Belgorod region ... with a subsequent appeal to the government to declare a federal emergency situation.
Belgorod borders Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and neighbours Kursk, where Ukraine has launched a surprise offensive.
Gladkov said Belgorod had also come under attack from Ukrainian drones.
He said:
Two settlements in Belgorod region were attacked by the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ drones. There were no casualties
In Shebekino, as a result of several drone attacks on an apartment building, one apartment caught fire and slabs collapsed. The gas supply line was also damaged.
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Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, has met with James O’Brien, the US assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs.
In a statement, the presidential office said Yermak thanked the US president, Joe Biden, and his team, as well as both houses and parties in Congress, for helping Ukraine.
The two officials discussed the current situation on the battlefield and the status of defence agreements between Ukraine and the US, according to the statement, which noted that Yermak stressed the importance of increasing sanctions pressure on Russia.
Russian authorities scramble to quell Ukraine’s week-long Kursk incursion
Russian authorities are scrambling to bring the situation in Kursk under control, a week after Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack in the region that has left a swathe of Russian territory under Kyiv’s control.
Russia used missiles, drones and airstrikes on Tuesday in an attempt to claw back territory, with one senior commander claiming Kyiv’s advance was over, even as the evacuation of residents from border areas continued.
“The uncontrolled ride of the enemy has already been halted,” said Gen Apti Alaudinov, the commander of Akhmat, a Chechen special forces unit. “The enemy is already aware that the blitzkrieg that it planned did not work out.”
Ukrainian forces were still in control of numerous settlements, however, leaving the Kremlin attempting to play down the significance of the events.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry said Kyiv had no interest in the long-term occupation of the region. “Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need other people’s property. Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people,” Heorhii Tykhyi told reporters in Kyiv.
Ukraine's incursion into Kursk continues as it targets Russia with drones
Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region is continuing.
Russia said today that it had destroyed 117 Ukrainian drones in Russia overnight, Reuters reported. Moscow said the drones were destroyed mostly in the Kursk, Voronezh and Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod regions, and that missiles had also been shot down.
Late yesterday, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that “despite the difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region, and our state’s ‘exchange fund’ is growing”.
The Ukrainian president added: “74 communities are under Ukrainian control, where inspections and stabilization measures are being carried out.”
I am constantly in touch with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, receiving reports on the frontline situation and our operations in the Kursk region. Despite the difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region, and our state’s “exchange fund”… pic.twitter.com/5BUdEJWbcr
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 13, 2024
