Summary
Ukraine controls 74 settlements in Russia’s southern Kursk region, its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an update on Tuesday. “Despite the difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region,” Zelenskiy wrote in a social media post. “74 communities are under Ukrainian control, where inspections and stabilization measures are being carried out.”
Ukraine said on Tuesday it had no interest in occupying territory in Russia’s Kursk region and that its major cross-border incursion would complicate Russian military logistics and its ability to send more units to fight in Ukraine’s east. The comments by the Ukrainian foreign ministry’s spokesperson come a week after Kyiv’s forces launched a cross-border assault into the western Russian region of Kursk that Ukraine says has seen its forces take control of 1,000 square kilometres of land. To read more about Ukraine’s incursion into Russia, see our in-depth analysis here.
Some Russian military units fighting in Ukraine are likely experiencing drinking water shortages, according to the UK Ministry of Defence on Tuesday. Damage inflicted during “ongoing Russian strikes against utilities infrastructure is now almost certainly curtailing water supply”, an intelligence update said.
Russia said it summoned a senior Moldovan diplomat on Tuesday to express “serious concern” over media reports - denied by Moldova - about the potential deployment there of F-16 fighter jets supplied by the West to Ukraine. The Russian foreign ministry said Moscow was alarmed by speculation that F-16s could be based at Moldovan airfields and used to launch attacks on Russian territory.
Moldova’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Chisinau had no plans to host aircraft destined for Ukraine after Russia’s foreign ministry referred to reports that F-16 jets will be based in Moldova. “Moldova does not and will not host weapons and military equipment, including aircraft destined for Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.
Russia has trained its navy to target sites deep inside Europe using nuclear-capable missiles in a potential conflict with Nato, according to a report. Files seen by the Financial Times and drawn up between 2008 and 2014 include a target list for missiles that can carry either conventional warheads or tactical nuclear weapons.
The Russian army is intensifying its attacks in eastern Ukraine, military authorities said Tuesday, even as the Kremlin’s forces try to check a stunning week long incursion into Russia by Kyiv’s troops. Ukraine’s general staff said on Tuesday that over the previous 24 hours Russian troops launched 52 assaults in the area of Pokrovsk, a town in Ukraine’s Donetsk region that is close to the front line.
Two people have been killed after Ukrainian forces shelled a bus with civilians in the Russian-held city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday the Tass news agency is reporting, citing Russian-appointed local authorities. Russian-installed officials earlier said that more than 30 people had been wounded in the attack.
Donald Trump has claimed Joe Biden is to blame for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Trump, in an interview with billionaire Elon Musk on Monday night, rgued that his “strong” relationship with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, could have prevented the conflict.
Russia’s defence ministry says it has stopped an attempt by Ukraine to break deeper into the Kursk region and has struck back against Kyiv’s forces in the Sumy region. “Strikes by army aviation and unmanned aerial vehicles, and artillery fire prevented attempts by enemy mobile groups to break through in armoured vehicles deep into Russian territory in the areas of the populated areas of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk, and Alekseevsky,” Russia’s defence ministry said in quotes reported by the Interfax news agency.
Romania’s navy has carried out a controlled explosion of a mine that had drifted to its Black Sea shore, its defence ministry said. Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey have a joint taskforce to defuse stray mines, which began floating in the Black Sea after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The UN’s human rights agency is concerned about the possible impact of recent military developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine, its spokesperson said in response to a question about Ukraine’s recent cross-border assault on the Kursk region. “Wherever military operations are occurring by either side, the protection of civilians and civilian objects in accordance with international humanitarian law must be the top priority,” the spokesperson told a briefing.
Ukraine is restricting the movement of civilians within a 20 km (12 mile) zone in a north-eastern region bordering Russia, Kyiv’s general staff said on Tuesday, as its troops push further into Russian territory amid a week-old surprise offensive. The measure, applying to parts of the Sumy region bordering Russia’s Kursk, was needed due to an “increase in the intensity of hostilities” and the activation of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the area, it said.
Russian drones attacked energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s northern region of Chernihiv overnight, national grid operator Ukrenergo said on Tuesday. Ukrenergo said the power was restored to the industrial and household consumers in some areas of Chernihiv region impacted by power cuts after the attack, according to the statement Ukrenergo shared via Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine pummelled two Russian regions with drones on Tuesday as its ground forces tried to smash through defensive lines in a bid to carve out even more territory in its biggest attack on Russian territory since the war began. Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Russian border, about 530 km (330 miles) south-west of Moscow, a week ago, in a surprise attack that President Vladimir Putin said was aimed at improving Kyiv’s negotiating position ahead of possible talks and slowing the advance of Russian forces along the rest of the front.
On Tuesday, Russia’s foreign intelligence services accused Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, of taking “insane” steps that threaten to escalate the war far beyond his country, according to a report from Russia’s RIA state news service. It comes as Ukraine’s top military commander says his forces now control 1,000 square km (386 square miles) of the Kursk region, Associated Press reports.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Heorhii Tykhyi, said Kyiv has no interest in occupying Russian territory in the Kursk region after its offensive into the Russian region, adding that Ukraine wants only to “protect the lives of our people”.
Here’s the clip:
Six Ukrainian children have been returned from Russian occupation to Ukrainian-controlled territory, Ukrinform is reporting.
The state broadcaster cited Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament commissioner for human rights, as saying:
We managed to return six Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied areas to their homeland. Families with children from the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions are now in safety.
According to Ukrinform, the parents said their children “were forced to attend a Russian school and celebrate Russian holidays”.
Ukraine controls 74 settlements in Kursk region, says Zelenskiy
Ukraine now controls 74 settlements in Russia’s southern Kursk region, its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said.
Zelenskiy, in a post to X on Tuesday, wrote:
Despite the difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region, and our state’s “exchange fund” is growing.
74 communities are under Ukrainian control, where inspections and stabilization measures are being carried out.
He added that “preparations for our next steps continue”.
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
Donald Trump, the US former president and Republican presidential nominee, has claimed Joe Biden is to blame for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Trump, in an interview with billionaire Elon Musk on Monday night, claimed Moscow would have never invaded had Biden not been in office.
Trump argued that his “strong” relationship with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, could have prevented the conflict.
Putin “respected me,” Trump told Musk, adding that the pair would take about Ukraine. He said:
I told him, don’t do it. You can’t do it, Vladimir. He said ‘no way’, and I said ‘way’.
Russia has trained its navy to target sites deep inside Europe using nuclear-capable missiles in a potential conflict with Nato, according to a report.
Files seen by the Financial Times show maps of targets as far-flung as the west coast of France and Barrow-in-Furness in the UK detailed in a presentation for officers.
The files, drawn up between 2008 and 2014 and predating Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, include a target list for missiles that can carry either conventional warheads or tactical nuclear weapons, the FT said.
The presentation shows Russian officers highlighting the advantages of using nuclear strikes at an early stage, it said.
The presentation also indicates that Russia has retained the capability to carry nuclear weapons on surface ships, a capacity that experts said carries significant extra risks of escalation or accidents.
Latvia is preparing to transfer a new batch of about 500 drones to the Ukrainian army, according to the Latvian defense minister, Andris Spruds.
Spruds, in a post to X, wrote:
The next set of drones is ready! About 500 Latvian-made drones will support Ukrainians in carrying out various combat missions.
Gatava nākamā dronu pakotne! Ap 500 Latvijā ražotu dronu sniegs atbalstu
— Andris Spruds (@AndrisSpruds) August 13, 2024
🇺🇦ukraiņiem dažādu kaujas uzdevumu veikšanā. #DroneCoalition #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/QLPxMkKugn
Some Russian military units fighting in Ukraine are likely experiencing drinking water shortages, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
Damage inflicted during “ongoing Russian strikes against utilities infrastructure is now almost certainly curtailing water supply”, an intelligence update on Tuesday says, adding:
Any water supply issues will have been exacerbated by a period of above average temperature in the region.
The update goes on to say that some Russian military units have been forced to “improve filtration attempts, using stagnant puddles for daily water requirements” in response to the water shortages.
This has “highly likely” led to an increase of waterborne diseases amongst the soldiers, it says. It adds:
This shortage of water leading to dehydration and increased risk of infection, will almost certainly impact morale and operational effectiveness.
Ukraine’s incursion into Russia explained in maps, footage and photos
As we’ve been reporting, Ukraine launched a surprise incursion with armour and infantry into the Kursk and Belgorod regions of Russia on 6 August, involving thousands of troops amounting to 14 brigades.
While initial details of the attack were murky, both Kyiv and Moscow have now acknowledged the operation into the Russian border regions, while independent analysts have verified claims about the scale of the advance by geolocating images posted by Ukrainian troops.
My colleagues Peter Beaumont, Elena Morresi and Paul Scruton have put together this detailed guide to what we know about the incursion so far:
Here are some of the latest images from photographers on the ground in Ukraine:
The day so far
If you’re just joining us, here are the day’s main developments:
Ukraine said on Tuesday it had no interest in occupying territory in Russia’s Kursk region and that its major cross-border incursion would complicate Russian military logistics and its ability to send more units to fight in Ukraine’s east. The comments by the Ukrainian foreign ministry’s spokesman come a week after Kyiv’s forces launched a cross-border assault into the western Russian region of Kursk that Ukraine says has seen its forces take control of 1,000 square kilometres of land.
To read more about Ukraine’s incursion into Russia, see our in-depth analysis here.
Russia said it summoned a senior Moldovan diplomat on Tuesday to express “serious concern” over media reports - denied by Moldova - about the potential deployment there of F-16 fighter jets supplied by the West to Ukraine. The Russian foreign ministry said Moscow was alarmed by speculation that F-16s could be based at Moldovan airfields and used to launch attacks on Russian territory.
Moldova’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Chisinau had no plans to host aircraft destined for Ukraine after Russia’s foreign ministry referred to reports that F-16 jets will be based in Moldova. “Moldova does not and will not host weapons and military equipment, including aircraft destined for Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Russian army is intensifying its attacks in eastern Ukraine, military authorities said Tuesday, even as the Kremlin’s forces try to check a stunning week long incursion into Russia by Kyiv’s troops. Ukraine’s general staff said on Tuesday that over the previous 24 hours Russian troops launched 52 assaults in the area of Pokrovsk, a town in Ukraine’s Donetsk region that is close to the front line.
Two people have been killed after Ukrainian forces shelled a bus with civilians in the Russian-held city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday the Tass news agency is reporting, citing Russian-appointed local authorities. Russian-installed officials earlier said that more than 30 people had been wounded in the attack.
Russia’s defence ministry says it has stopped an attempt by Ukraine to break deeper into the Kursk region and has struck back against Kyiv’s forces in the Sumy region. “Strikes by army aviation and unmanned aerial vehicles, and artillery fire prevented attempts by enemy mobile groups to break through in armoured vehicles deep into Russian territory in the areas of the populated areas of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk, and Alekseevsky,” Russia’s defence ministry said in quotes reported by the Interfax news agency.
Romania’s navy has carried out a controlled explosion of a mine that had drifted to its Black Sea shore, its defence ministry said. Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey have a joint taskforce to defuse stray mines, which began floating in the Black Sea after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The UN’s human rights agency is concerned about the possible impact of recent military developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine, its spokesperson said in response to a question about Ukraine’s recent cross-border assault on the Kursk region. “Wherever military operations are occurring by either side, the protection of civilians and civilian objects in accordance with international humanitarian law must be the top priority,” the spokesperson told a briefing.
Ukraine is restricting the movement of civilians within a 20 km (12 mile) zone in a north-eastern region bordering Russia, Kyiv’s general staff said on Tuesday, as its troops push further into Russian territory amid a week-old surprise offensive. The measure, applying to parts of the Sumy region bordering Russia’s Kursk, was needed due to an “increase in the intensity of hostilities” and the activation of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the area, it said.
Russian drones attacked energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s northern region of Chernihiv overnight, national grid operator Ukrenergo said on Tuesday. Ukrenergo said the power was restored to the industrial and household consumers in some areas of Chernihiv region impacted by power cuts after the attack, according to the statement Ukrenergo shared via Telegram messaging app.
Russia’s air defence units destroyed 14 drones that Ukraine launched overnight targeting Kursk, Voronezh and Belgorod region, Russia’s news agencies reported on Tuesday. Twelve of the drones were destroyed over the border region of Kursk, and one each over Voronezh and Belgorod regions, RIA agency reported citing Russia’s defence ministry.
Ukraine pummelled two Russian regions with drones on Tuesday as its ground forces tried to smash through defensive lines in a bid to carve out even more territory in its biggest attack on Russian territory since the war began. Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Russian border, about 530 km (330 miles) south-west of Moscow, a week ago, in a surprise attack that President Vladimir Putin said was aimed at improving Kyiv’s negotiating position ahead of possible talks and slowing the advance of Russian forces along the rest of the front.
Russia launched 38 attack drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said on Tuesday. Thirty of the drones were destroyed over eight Ukrainian regions, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app. It was not clear what happened to the weapons that were not destroyed, Reuters reported.
On Tuesday, Russia’s foreign intelligence services accused Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, of taking “insane” steps that threaten to escalate the war far beyond his country, according to a report from Russia’s RIA state news service. It comes as Ukraine’s top military commander says his forces now control 1,000 square km (386 square miles) of the Kursk region, Associated Press reports.
Russia said it summoned a senior Moldovan diplomat on Tuesday to express “serious concern” over media reports - denied by Moldova - about the potential deployment there of F-16 fighter jets supplied by the West to Ukraine.
The Russian foreign ministry said Moscow was alarmed by speculation that F-16s could be based at Moldovan airfields and used to launch attacks on Russian territory.
Moldova’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Chisinau had no plans to host aircraft destined for Ukraine after Russia’s foreign ministry referred to reports that F-16 jets will be based in Moldova.
“Moldova does not and will not host weapons and military equipment, including aircraft destined for Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said it recommended the Russian ministry get information from official sources.
Ukraine says it has no interest in occupying Kursk region
Ukraine said on Tuesday it had no interest in occupying territory in Russia’s Kursk region and that its major cross-border incursion would complicate Russian military logistics and its ability to send more units to fight in Ukraine’s east.
The comments by the Ukrainian foreign ministry’s spokesman come a week after Kyiv’s forces launched a cross-border assault into the western Russian region of Kursk that Ukraine says has seen its forces take control of 1,000 square kilometres of land.
“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, the spokesman, told reporters in Kyiv.
The Russian army is intensifying its attacks in eastern Ukraine, military authorities said Tuesday, even as the Kremlin’s forces try to check a stunning week long incursion into Russia by Kyiv’s troops.
Ukraine’s general staff said on Tuesday that over the previous 24 hours Russian troops launched 52 assaults in the area of Pokrovsk, a town in Ukraine’s Donetsk region that is close to the front line. That’s roughly double the number of daily attacks there a week ago, AP reported.
Ukraine’s sensational charge onto Russian soil that began on 6 August has already encompassed some 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian territory, the Ukrainian military claims.
The goals of the swift advance into the Kursk region are a closely-guarded military secret.
Two people have been killed after Ukrainian forces shelled a bus with civilians in the Russian-held city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday the Tass news agency is reporting, citing Russian-appointed local authorities. Russian-installed officials earlier said that more than 30 people had been wounded in the attack.
Russia claims to have stopped attempt by Ukraine to break deeper into Kursk region
Russia’s defence ministry says it has stopped an attempt by Ukraine to break deeper into the Kursk region and has struck back against Kyiv’s forces in the Sumy region.
“Strikes by army aviation and unmanned aerial vehicles, and artillery fire prevented attempts by enemy mobile groups to break through in armoured vehicles deep into Russian territory in the areas of the populated areas of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk, and Alekseevsky,” Russia’s defence ministry said in quotes reported by the Interfax news agency.
Russia also claims to have prevented a Ukrainian attack near Martynovka in the Kursk region, destroying two armoured vehicles and cars carrying 15 service personnel.
The Ukrainian military has not commented on the reports and the Guardian has not been able to immediately verify these claims.
Romania’s navy has carried out a controlled explosion of a mine that had drifted to its Black Sea shore, its defence ministry said. Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey have a joint taskforce to defuse stray mines, which began floating in the Black Sea after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The ministry said the navy was alerted by local officials early on Tuesday about an unidentified object that had washed up on shore near Grindul Chituc in southeastern Romania. The area is part of the Danube Delta, which Romania shares with Ukraine.
In May this year, Lubov Nedoriz, a volunteer social worker, received a call from the police in Pervomaiskyi, a town in the Ukrainian province of Kharkiv. The Russians had just launched an offensive in the region that continues today.
The police told her about a 30-year-old man who had recently returned from the frontline in Kharkiv and attacked his mother, who was now worried about his violent and angry behaviour.
“He used to be a good son, the mother later told me,” says Nedoriz. He had had a university education and was “very kind and loved his girlfriend”, but that changed after he had been sent to the frontline in Kharkiv.
“He became angry a lot, started listening to rock music and fought with his girlfriend. When his mother had tried to intervene, he severely beat her up.”
Nedoriz, who trained as a criminologist before the war, says such calls for help from law enforcement and women are becoming increasingly common.
With Russia’s war against Ukraine in its third year, many women in the country are now fighting their own battle, as the number of domestic violence cases increases significantly.
According to Ukraine’s internal affairs ministry, police registered more than 291,000 cases of domestic violence across the country in 2023 – a 20% increase on the previous year, when the Russian invasion began.
UN rights office concerned about civilians after Ukraine offensive in Russia
The UN’s human rights agency is concerned about the possible impact of recent military developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine, its spokesperson said in response to a question about Ukraine’s recent cross-border assault on the Kursk region.
“Wherever military operations are occurring by either side, the protection of civilians and civilian objects in accordance with international humanitarian law must be the top priority,” the spokesperson told a briefing.
The UN has unverified reports of four civilians killed, plus one male war correspondent and one female paramedic injured, she added. It has not been able to establish under what circumstances the casualties occurred.
Russian forces stepped up their attacks on the Pokrovsk front in eastern Ukraine over the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian military said on Tuesday, reporting the largest number of battles in the area in a single day in a week.
The increase in fighting comes after Ukraine mounted a surprise cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk regionin what some military analysts see as an attempt to divert Russian forces from their main offensives in the east.
Russian forces have been trying to advance towards the Kyiv-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk for months, inching forward incrementally and taking advantage of greater troop numbers, Reuters reported.
In a daily readout, the Ukrainian military’s general staff said there had been 52 battles on the Pokrovsk front, a visible increase from figures of between 28 and 42 per day that have been reported over the past week.
Ukraine last reported more than that in the first days of August, before Kyiv’s forces launched their cross-border attack into Kursk region.
Ukraine restricts civilian movements in border area of Sumy region
Ukraine is restricting the movement of civilians within a 20 km (12 mile) zone in a north-eastern region bordering Russia, Kyiv’s general staff said on Tuesday, as its troops push further into Russian territory amid a week-old surprise offensive.
The measure, applying to parts of the Sumy region bordering Russia’s Kursk, was needed due to an “increase in the intensity of hostilities” and the activation of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the area, it said.
“The military command imposed restrictions on the movement of all categories of citizens in the twenty-kilometre border zone of the Sumy region,” it said in a statement on social media, Reuters reported.
The general staff added that the measure was temporary and that residents of the newly restricted area could still access their homes by showing proof of registration.
Russian drones attacked energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s northern region of Chernihiv overnight, national grid operator Ukrenergo said on Tuesday.
Ukrenergo said the power was restored to the industrial and household consumers in some areas of Chernihiv region impacted by power cuts after the attack, according to the statement Ukrenergo shared via Telegram messaging app.
Russia’s air defence units destroyed 14 drones that Ukraine launched overnight targeting Kursk, Voronezh and Belgorod region, Russia’s news agencies reported on Tuesday.
Twelve of the drones were destroyed over the border region of Kursk, and one each over Voronezh and Belgorod regions, RIA agency reported citing Russia’s defence ministry.
There was no information provided on how many drones in total Ukraine had launched overnight.
Ukraine pummelled two Russian regions with drones on Tuesday as its ground forces tried to smash through defensive lines in a bid to carve out even more territory in its biggest attack on Russian territory since the war began.
Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Russian border, about 530 km (330 miles) south-west of Moscow, a week ago, in a surprise attack that President Vladimir Putin said was aimed at improving Kyiv’s negotiating position ahead of possible talks and slowing the advance of Russian forces along the rest of the front.
Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence units destroyed 12 drones over the Kursk region, one over the Belgorod region and one over Voronezh. Russian officials in Kursk and Belgorod put out warnings of missile attacks.
Updated
Russia launched 38 attack drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said on Tuesday.
Thirty of the drones were destroyed over eight Ukrainian regions, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app. It was not clear what happened to the weapons that were not destroyed, Reuters reported.
Sumy regional authorities said the attack injured one person and damaged a power line and a gas pipeline, leaving some residents of the city of Sumy without electricity and gas supplies.
The attack also damaged a hospital building and several cars in the region, the authorities said.
Zelenskiy taking ‘insane’ steps over Kursk incursion, claim Russian security services
Welcome to our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict amid the dramatic incursion into Kursk by Kyiv’s forces.
On Tuesday, Russia’s foreign intelligence services accused Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, of taking “insane” steps that threaten to escalate the war far beyond his country, according to a report from Russia’s RIA state news service.
It comes as Ukraine’s top military commander says his forces now control 1,000 square km (386 square miles) of the Kursk region, Associated Press reports.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi made the statement in a video posted on Monday to Zelenskiy’s Telegram channel. In the video, he briefed the president on the frontline situation.
“The troops are fulfilling their tasks. Fighting continues actually along the entire front line. The situation is under our control,” Syrskyi said.
Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has vowed a “worthy response” to the Kursk attack and ordered his troops to “dislodge the enemy from our territories”.
In other news:
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said late on Monday that its representatives had inspected a damaged cooling tower at the Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine but could not immediately determine the cause of a fire there at the weekend. Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of starting the fire at the vast dormant nuclear power plant in Ukraine, with Russia blaming a drone attack and Ukraine saying it was likely Russia’s negligence or arson.
In a meeting with his national security council Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said the attack was aimed at improving Kyiv’s negotiating position ahead of possible peace talks and at slowing the advance of Russian forces. “The main task, of course, is for the defence ministry to squeeze out, to knock out the enemy from our territories,” Putin said, adding: “The enemy will certainly receive a worthy response.”
Zelenskiy said the Kursk attack was targeting areas from which Russia was launching assaults on Ukrainian territory. “It is only fair to destroy Russian terrorists where they are, where they launch their strikes from,” he said in his nightly address. “Russian military airfields, Russian logistics. We see how useful this can be for bringing peace closer. Russia must be forced into peace if Putin wants to continue waging war so badly. He added: “Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming home.”
Ukrainian forces in Kursk were trying to encircle Sudzha, where Russian natural gas flows into Ukraine, Reuters reported. Major battles were also under way near Korenevo, about 22 km (14 miles) from the border, and Martynovka village.
Putin said on Monday that, despite the attack, “our armed forces are moving forward along the entire line of contact” in Ukraine. Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday its troops had “accelerated the speed of advance” in the eastern Donetsk region and taken the hamlet of Lysychne in their push towards the city of Pokrovsk. It was not possible to verify the claim independently.
Ukrainian prosecutors said on Monday that law enforcement authorities had detained one of the country’s four deputy energy ministers and three other people as they were receiving part of a $500,000 bribe. An investigation revealed that the suspects had organised a scheme to smuggle mining equipment belonging to a state-owned coal mining enterprise out of the combat zone in the Donetsk region, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. The suspects were not named.
Updated
