Ukraine has captured 100 Russian prisoners of war amid its incursion into Russia as a second border region declared a state of emergency.
A top Kyiv commander claimed the prisoners were captured in Kursk, where Ukraine has been steadily advancing since 6 August.
It comes as Belgorod’s governor said the situation was “extremely tense” in the his region next to Kursk and claimed Ukrainian forces had been shelling the oblast for days with civilians killed and wounded.
“We are making a decision to declare a regional emergency situation throughout the Belgorod region with a subsequent appeal to the government to declare a federal emergency situation,” Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Overnight, Ukraine fired at least 117 drones and four tactical missiles on Russian territory, including 37 on Kursk, Russian officials said.
Geolocated footage analysed by the Institute for the Study of War showed that Ukrainian forces are still “advancing further” into Kursk as Moscow scrambled to open hundreds of shelters amid a mass evacuation.
This is despite Russia’s false claims that the fierce fighting has stabilised. On Tuesday, US president Joe Biden said Putin was facing a “real dilemma” and Washington officials were in touch with Kyiv about the incursion.
Key Points
Belgorod declares state of emergency
Ukraine launches ‘huge drone barrage’
Biden calls Kursk incursion ‘a real dilemma for Putin’
Ukrainian troops still advancing into Russia
Zelensky vows war is ‘coming home’ to Russia – IN FULL
Mapped: Ukraine’s cross-border attack
Four Russian military airfields hit in ‘major drone attack’, says Ukraine
12:45 , Alexander Butler
Four Russian military airfields were hit in a ‘major drone attack’ carried out overnight, a Ukrainian security source has told the Reuters news agency.
The source said the attack was designed to undermine Russia’s ability to use Su-34 fighter jets, which have been used to hit Ukraine with gliding bombs.
Russians ‘building trenches 27 miles from Ukraine border’
12:16 , Alexander Butler
Russian forces are reportedly digging trenches 27 miles from its border with Ukraine in the Kursk region.
Satellite images have shown the hastily-dug defensive lines appearing miles away from Ukraine’s current battlefield positions inside Russian territory, near to Lgov and Kurchatov.
The moves help bolster Russian sources that claimed Russia was planning to halt further Ukrainian advances, despite its military suggesting Ukraine’s offensive had stalled.
Breaking: Ukraine ‘captures 100 prisoners of war’ in Kursk
11:48 , Alexander Butler
Ukraine has captured 100 Russian prisoners of war in Kursk, a top commander has said.
Mapped: Ukrainian invasion of Russia
11:35 , Alexander Butler
Kyiv’s operations in Kursk are ‘defensive’, Poland says
11:27 , Alexander Butler
Ukraine has the full right to counter Russia’s aggression “as effectively as possible,” Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, said in reference to Kyiv’s incursion into Kursk.
When asked about Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied weapons during the operations on Russian soil, Mr Tusk said that Kyiv’s “actions are defensive.”
Ukraine has right to invade Russia, Finland says
10:54 , Alexander Butler
Ukraine has the right to defend itself by conducting a military operation in Russia’s Kursk region, the Finnish prime minister said.
Petteri Orpo said: “Ukraine has the right to self-defence and it’s clear that they can do their operation in Kursk.”
Ukraine continues to pound Kursk with missiles and drones
10:30 , Alexander Butler
Ukraine kept pounding the Russian border region of Kursk with missiles and drones on Wednesday, as Kyiv said it had made further territorial gains in its startling incursion.
Four Ukraine-launched missiles were destroyed over Kursk and the whole region was under air raid alerts on and off most of the night, its regional governor said early Wednesday.
Ukraine’s account has jarred with Russia’s assertions that Kyiv’s troops had been halted and attacks had been repelled at villages about 16 to 17 miles from the border.
Belgorod declares state of emergency
10:27 , Alexander Butler
A second Russian border region has declared a state of emergency as Kyiv launched a huge overnight drone and missile barrage over a week into its surprise offensive.
Belgorod’s governor said the situation was “extremely tense” and claimed Ukrainian forces had been shelling the region for days with civilians killed and wounded.
“We are making a decision to declare a regional emergency situation throughout the Belgorod region with a subsequent appeal to the government to declare a federal emergency situation,” Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Longest-held Russian dissident freed in swap says ‘colors get brighter by the day’ in his new life
09:21 , Alexander Butler
Longest-held Russian dissident freed in swap says ‘colors get brighter by the day’ in his new life
Russia attacked energy facilities in Ukraine, national grid operator says
09:18 , Alexander Butler
Russia has attacked energy facilities in Ukraine’s north and south, national grid operator Ukrenergo said on Wednesday.
An energy facility in the southern region was attacked in the morning, according to an Ukrenergo statement on the Telegram messaging app.
Russian drones were used to attack another energy facility in the north overnight, causing temporary power cuts to consumers in parts of Chernihiv region, it said in the statement.
Ukraine keeps advancing in attack inside Russia that has humiliated Putin
08:09 , Alexander Butler
Ukraine has said its forces are still advancing a week into its largest cross-border attack into Russia so far – but officials say that it has no interest in permanently keeping hold of the swathes of territory it has taken.
Ukraine blindsided Moscow by pouring troops into the western Russian region of Kursk last week in a surprise operation that Kyiv says has seen its forces take 1,000 sq km (390 sq miles) of land.
Ukraine said on Tuesday afternoon that its forces had taken control of 74 settlements in Kursk during its week-long assault, and that they had advanced about a mile over the previous 24 hours.
Ukraine downs 17 out of 23 Russian drones overnight
07:32 , Arpan Rai
Ukraine shot down 17 out of 23 Russia-launched drones during an overnight attack, the country’s air force said this morning.
The Russian forces also launched two Kh-59/69 guided missiles to attack Ukraine, the air force said. Local authorities in several Ukrainian regions reported infrastructure damage following the attack.
Russia failing to make gains in Ukraine as Kursk operation escalates
07:23 , Arpan Rai
Russian forces have been trying to advance for months on multiple fronts in the eastern Donetsk region, taking advantage of their greater troop numbers to inch towards cities like the Kyiv-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said: “It should be emphasized that the (Kursk) operation … helps the front line because it does not allow Russia to transfer additional units to the Donetsk region, complicates its military logistics.”
For now, there is no sign of a letup for Ukraine in the east where Kyiv’s military said earlier it had recorded the largest number of battles with Russian forces on the Pokrovsk front in a single day since before the Kursk incursion.
“Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people,” Mr Tykhyi said.
Ukraine has noted Russian troops moving from the south to other areas, likely including Kursk, this week, military spokesperson Dmytro Lykhoviy said, adding that the number of attacks had not decreased as a result and it was too early to draw conclusions.
Russia claims Ukrainian attack of 117 drones and four tactical missiles
06:45 , Arpan Rai
Russia’s air defences destroyed 117 drones and four tactical missiles launched overnight by Ukraine targeting several regions including Kursk, its defence ministry said this morning.
The missiles and 37 drones were destroyed over the Kursk region, the ministry said, while 37 drones were destroyed over the Voronezh region, among others.
The Russian ministry did not give a total of air weapons Ukraine launched.
After Kursk, Russia’s border region Belgorod declares regional emergency
06:05 , Arpan Rai
The governor of Russia’s border area of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, declared a regionwide state of emergency today, citing continued attacks by Ukrainian forces.
“The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be extremely difficult and tense,” Mr Gladkov said. Daily shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces had destroyed houses, killing and wounding civilians, he added.
“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.”
More Russians are urged to flee Ukraine’s cross-border attack as the Kremlin scrambles to respond
06:00 , Holly Evans
An official in the Kursk border region of Russia on Monday urged more residents to evacuate due to the “very tense situation” in the area, where Russian forces are still scrambling to respond to a surprise Ukrainian attack after almost a week of fierce fighting.
Russia’s emergency authorities say more than 76,000 people have fled their homes in areas of Kursk, where Ukrainian troops and armor poured across the border on Aug. 6, reportedly driving as deep as 30 kilometers (19 miles) into Russia and sowing alarm.
Ukrainian forces swiftly rolled into the town of Sudzha about 10 kilometers (6 miles) over the border after launching the attack. They reportedly still hold the western part of the town, which is the site of an important natural gas transit station.
Read the full article here:
More Russians are urged to flee Ukraine’s cross-border attack as the Kremlin scrambles to respond
Russian artist released in swap builds a new life in Germany, now free to marry her partner
05:00 , Holly Evans
Sasha Skochilenko and Sofya Subbotina are planning to get married. That wasn’t an option in their native Russia, but it’s possible now that they live in Germany, which recognizes same-sex weddings.
“We don’t know how or in which city we will do it, but that’s the plan,” Skochilenko, 33, told The Associated Press, looking lovingly at Subbotina, who radiated happiness.
They reunited earlier this month in Germany, shortly after Skochilenko and other Russian prisoners were exchanged in a historic East-West swap — a happy if unlikely ending to an over two-year ordeal.
Read the full article here:
Russian artist released in swap builds a new life in Germany, now free to marry her partner
Ukraine still advancing in Russia’s Kursk region, hints at ‘next steps’
04:45 , Arpan Rai
Ukraine has taken control of 74 settlements in Russia’s region of Kursk and was still advancing, making gains of one to three km in the last 24 hours. This is Kyiv’s biggest cross-border assault of the war to date.
“Despite difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region, and our state’s ‘exchange fund’ is growing. Seventy-four settlements are under Ukrainian control,” Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Shown speaking by video link, the Ukrainian leader asked his top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, to develop the next “key steps” in the operation. “Everything is being executed according to the plan,” Syrskyi replied, without elaborating.
Ukraine blindsided Moscow by pouring thousands of troops into the western Russian region of Kursk last week. The surprise operation has given Ukraine its biggest battlefield gains since 2022 after months on the backfoot.
Kyiv’s forces have also rounded up Russian prisoners of war who could be swapped for captured Ukrainian fighters, what Mr Zelensky referred to as an expanding “exchange fund”.
Putin needs to be forced to attend peace summit, says Zelensky’s aide
04:37 , Arpan Rai
Russia needs to be forced to participate in a summit on peace as it would not do so willingly, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said.
Mr Podolyak told national TV that one of the methods of coercion is actions on the battlefield, referring to Ukraine’s unprecedented cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.
“Simple calls to Russia do not work, only a set of coercive tools works,” he said, referring to economic and diplomatic pressure as well.
He added that by actions in Russia’s border regions Ukraine was resolving the key issue of its own security.
“This is destruction of war infrastructure and formation of so-called sanitary zones so that Russia cannot use there … equipment that strikes deep into the territory of Ukraine,” he said.
A week after the launch of the incursion, Ukraine said it controls 74 Russian settlements and continues its advance.
IAEA says still no known cause of fire at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
04:20 , Arpan Rai
Evidence continues to indicate that Monday’s fire at the Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine did not start at the base of the cooling tower or by a foreign object, the UN nuclear body International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.
“The evidence gathered reinforces our conclusion that the main fire seems unlikely to be at the base of the cooling tower,” the IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
He said “foreign objects or materials were visible” in the damaged tower.
The Russian management of the plant told the IAEA that the tower may need to be dismantled, the IAEA said.
Thousands of Ukraine troops ready to defend land captured in daring attack into Russia
04:00 , Holly Evans
This isn’t a short jaunt into Russia as a propaganda exercise,” a colonel connected to the general staff of Ukraine’s army says of Ukraine’s surprise attack on Russian soil. “This operation has been long in the planning and has serious aims and Ukrainian forces will stay for some time in Russia.”
Backing up the colonel’s assessment, an official who has worked for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration as an adviser and in a variety of other important roles, says the Kursk assault will not be a brief incursion but is likely to broaden its scope with the intention of holding onto captured territory.
He said that thousands more troops – potentially several brigades – are standing by, “including some of the best, most experienced troops and brigades” to fight.
Read the full article here:
Thousands of Ukraine troops ready to defend land captured in attack into Russia
Biden calls Ukraine incursion ‘a real dilemma for Putin’
03:55 , Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s military incursion into Russia has “created a real dilemma” for Vladimir Putin, president Joe Biden said, adding that US officials are in constant touch with the Ukrainians about the move.
Answering questions from reporters upon arrival in New Orleans, Mr Biden said he has been briefed every four to five hours for the last six to eight days on Ukraine’s action.
“It’s creating a real dilemma for Putin,” he said in his first substantive comments about the operation, which appeared to have caught the Russians off guard.
About 1,000 Ukrainian troops rammed through the Russian border in the early hours of 6 August with tanks and armoured vehicles. A US official said that the goal of Ukraine’s Kursk incursion appears to be to force Russia to pull troops out of Ukraine to defend Russian territory against the cross-border assault.
The White House said Ukraine did not provide advance notice of its incursion, which took place in the Kursk region of Russia. Russian forces on Tuesday struck back at Ukrainian troops with missiles, drones and airstrikes.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, said Washington had no involvement in the operation.
Putin’s greatest fear is coming true – and he’s panicking
03:00 , Holly Evans
Putin’s greatest fear is coming true – and he’s panicking | Mark Almond
Are cheap holidays on offer because Russians can’t travel outside their country?
02:00 , Holly Evans
Are cheap holidays on offer because Russians can’t travel outside their country?
Russia intensifies attacks in eastern Ukraine
01:00 , Holly Evans
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 weeklong incursion into Russia by Kyiv’s troops.
Ukraine’s General Staff said 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.
Ukraine’s sensational charge onto Russian soil that began Aug. 6 has already encompassed some 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian territory, the Ukrainian military claims.
Read the full article here:
Russia intensifies attacks in eastern Ukraine as it fights against Kyiv’s cross-border incursion
Incursion into Russia has seen 121,000 evacuated from Kursk
Tuesday 13 August 2024 23:30 , Holly Evans
Ukraine’s ambitious operation — the largest attack on Russia since World War II — has rattled the Kremlin. It compelled Russian President Vladimir Putin to convene a meeting Monday with his top defense officials.
Apparently, Ukraine assembled thousands of troops — some Western analysts estimate up to 12,000 — on the border in recent weeks without Russia noticing or acting.
About 121,000 people have been evacuated from Kursk or have fled the areas affected by fighting on their own, Russian officials say. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said it has seen geolocated footage indicating that Ukrainian forces advanced as much as 24 kilometers (15 miles) from the border.
The Russian Defense Ministry appeared to support that claim when it said Tuesday it had also blocked an attack by the units of Ukraine’s 82nd Air Assault Brigade toward Maryinka, which is about that distance from Ukraine.
More Russians are urged to flee Ukraine’s cross-border attack as the Kremlin scrambles to respond
Tuesday 13 August 2024 22:30 , Holly Evans
An official in the Kursk border region of Russia on Monday urged more residents to evacuate due to the “very tense situation” in the area, where Russian forces are still scrambling to respond to a surprise Ukrainian attack after almost a week of fierce fighting.
Russia’s emergency authorities say more than 76,000 people have fled their homes in areas of Kursk, where Ukrainian troops and armor poured across the border on Aug. 6, reportedly driving as deep as 30 kilometers (19 miles) into Russia and sowing alarm.
Ukrainian forces swiftly rolled into the town of Sudzha about 10 kilometers (6 miles) over the border after launching the attack. They reportedly still hold the western part of the town, which is the site of an important natural gas transit station.
Read the full article here:
More Russians are urged to flee Ukraine’s cross-border attack as the Kremlin scrambles to respond
Russian artist released in swap builds a new life in Germany, now free to marry her partner
Tuesday 13 August 2024 21:30 , Holly Evans
Sasha Skochilenko and Sofya Subbotina are planning to get married. That wasn’t an option in their native Russia, but it’s possible now that they live in Germany, which recognizes same-sex weddings.
“We don’t know how or in which city we will do it, but that’s the plan,” Skochilenko, 33, told The Associated Press, looking lovingly at Subbotina, who radiated happiness.
They reunited earlier this month in Germany, shortly after Skochilenko and other Russian prisoners were exchanged in a historic East-West swap — a happy if unlikely ending to an over two-year ordeal.
Read the full article here:
Russian artist released in swap builds a new life in Germany, now free to marry her partner
US had no advance notice of Ukraine’s advancement plans
Tuesday 13 August 2024 20:30 , Holly Evans
The United States had no advance notice from Ukraine that it planned a military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday.
U.S. officials have been seeking clarification from Ukraine about its objectives with an incursion that appeared to have caught Russia off guard. Jean-Pierre, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as President Joe Biden flew to New Orleans, said Washington had no involvement in the operation.
Polish prime minister says he backs Ukrainian operation
Tuesday 13 August 2024 19:30 , Holly Evans
Ukraine’s Western partners have said the country has the right to defend itself, including by attacking across the border. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Tuesday that he backed the Ukrainian operation, though he said Kyiv officials did not consult him about it beforehand.
Russian military actions in Ukraine bear “the hallmarks of genocide, inhumane crimes, and Ukraine has every right to wage war in such a way as to paralyze Russia in its aggressive intentions as effectively as possible,” Tusk said.
Kremlin forces intensified their attacks in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s General Staff said 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.Ukraine’s undermanned army has struggled to hold back the bigger, better-equipped Russian forces in Donetsk.
Ukraine hopes to deter Russian troops in shock cross-border assault
Tuesday 13 August 2024 18:30 , Holly Evans
Ukraine said on Tuesday its biggest cross-border assault of the war to date would prevent Russia sending more troops to fight in its eastern Donetsk region and disrupt military logistics, and that Kyiv had no interest in occupying Russian territory.
Ukraine blindsided Moscow by pouring thousands of troops into the western Russian region of Kursk last week in a surprise operation that Kyiv says has seen its forces take 1,000 sq km of land, its largest gains since 2022.
“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,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry’s spokesman said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukrainian forces have taken control of areas in the Kursk region that Russia has used to launch more than two thousand cross-border strikes on Ukraine since June.
“It should be emphasized that the operation … helps the front line because it does not allow Russia to transfer additional units to (Ukraine’s) Donetsk region, complicates its military logistics,” foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said.
Putin’s greatest fear is coming true – and he’s panicking
Tuesday 13 August 2024 17:30 , Alexander Butler
Throughout its war with Russia, Ukraine has shown a remarkable capacity to take its much bigger invader by surprise. Since its repulse of Russia’s onslaught in February 2022, the Ukrainians have scored morale-boosting hits on their enemy.
Last week’s sudden incursion into Russian territory is, however, much more dramatic than previous Ukrainian coups. It came as Western military commentators seemed to agree that Vladimir Putin was winning a brutal war of attrition against his smaller neighbour, maybe forcing Ukraine to accept his demands in the coming months. So, the West was as surprised as the Kremlin by recent events.
In an address on Sunday, the Russian leader accused Ukraine of breaking “all permissible boundaries” after they grabbed up to 95 square miles of land and forced thousands of civilians to evacuate in the process.
Thousands of Ukraine troops ready to defend land captured in daring attack into Russia
Tuesday 13 August 2024 16:30 , Alexander Butler
This isn’t a short jaunt into Russia as a propaganda exercise,” a colonel connected to the general staff of Ukraine’s army says of Ukraine’s surprise attack on Russian soil. “This operation has been long in the planning and has serious aims and Ukrainian forces will stay for some time in Russia.”
Backing up the colonel’s assessment, an official who has worked for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration as an adviser and in a variety of other important roles, says the Kursk assault will not be a brief incursion but is likely to broaden its scope with the intention of holding onto captured territory.
He said that thousands more troops – potentially several brigades – are standing by, “including some of the best, most experienced troops and brigades” to fight.
Ukraine ‘not interested in taking Russian territory’
Tuesday 13 August 2024 15:30 , Alexander Butler
Ukraine is not interested in “taking over” territory in Russia, its foreign ministry has said.
Spokesman Georgiy Tykhy also described Ukraine’s week-old invasion of the Kursk area as “absolutely legitimate”.
“Ukraine is not interested in taking over the territory of the Kursk region,” he added.
Two killed by Ukrainian shelling in Lysychansk,
Tuesday 13 August 2024 14:30 , Alexander Butler
Two people were killed when Ukrainian forces shelled a bus with civilians in the Russian-held city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, the TASS news agency cited Russian-appointed local authorities as saying.
Russian-installed officials earlier said that more than 30 people had been wounded in the attack.
Ukrainian troops still advancing into Russia
Tuesday 13 August 2024 13:57 , Alexander Butler
Ukrainian forces are still “advancing further” into the Russian border region of Kursk as Moscow scrambled to open hundreds of shelters amid a mass evacuation.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, said geolocated footage showed that despite Russian claims that the cross-border assault had stabilised, Kyiv’s forces were still pushing forwards.
Russia’s emergency ministry said 400 temporary shelters across the country had been opened to house around 30,000 people forced to flee Ukraine’s offensive which began last week.
Romania defuses stray mine on its Black Sea shore
Tuesday 13 August 2024 13:29 , Tom Watling
Romania’s navy carried out a controlled explosion on Tuesday of a mine that had drifted to its Black Sea shore, the defence ministry have reported.
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.
“By examining photographs taken on site, the object is most likely an anti-landing seamine of the YaRM type,” the ministry said in a statement. The mine was detonated at around 0950 GMT, the ministry added.
The Black Sea is crucial for shipments of grain, oil and oil products and is shared by Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia and Turkey, as well as Ukraine and Russia.
Since the war started, more than 100 drifting mines have been discovered and destroyed, the Romanian navy has said.
On Geneva Conventions’ 75th anniversary, fighters in Gaza, Ukraine and beyond ignore rulebook of war
Tuesday 13 August 2024 13:00 , Tom Watling
On Geneva Conventions’ 75th anniversary, fighters in Gaza, Ukraine and beyond ignore rulebook of war
EU sends ‘crucial’ £3.6bn in financial aid to Ukraine
Tuesday 13 August 2024 12:28 , Tom Watling
The European Union has sent €4.2 billion (£3.6bn) in “crucial” financial aid to Ukraine, taking the total value of bloc support for Kyiv to €12 billion.
Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmhyal expressed gratitude to the bloc for actioning the payment and announced that Kyiv has received the funds.
“This assistance is crucial to maintain our macro-financial stability, advance recovery and drive key reforms,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Ukraine received €4.2 billion, bringing the total EU support under the Ukraine Facility to €12 billion. This assistance is crucial to maintain our macro-financial stability, advance recovery and drive key reforms. We are grateful to the @EU_Commission and President @vonderleyen…
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) August 13, 2024
Russian soldiers on the frontline in Kursk – pictured
Tuesday 13 August 2024 12:26 , Tom Watling
UN rights office concerned about civilians after Ukraine offensive in Russia
Tuesday 13 August 2024 12:00 , Tom Watling
The United Nations’ human rights agency is concerned about the possible impact of recent military developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine, its spokesperson has said in regard to 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.
Mapped: Ukraine’s cross-border attack
Tuesday 13 August 2024 11:36 , Tom Watling
Below you can see a map detailing Ukraine’s historic cross-border assault into the Russian region of Kursk, which began a week ago today.
Ukraine’s military chief claims his forces have taken nearly 390 square miles of territory in just seven days, nearly three times the amount of occupied land retaken by Kyiv’s troops during the three-month counteroffensive last summer.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based think tank that tracks developments on the frontline, suggested a more conservative estimate of around 305 square miles.
Nonetheless, the capture of such a large swathe of territory is a significant advancement for Ukrainian troops, a feat evermore significant given it is inside Russia, as opposed to being a retake of land in Ukraine that Moscow’s forces had previously occupied.
Footage shows damage in Kherson region after ‘massive’ Russian strikes
Tuesday 13 August 2024 11:23 , Tom Watling
Footage below shows the extent of eight hours of Russian strikes in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson yesterday.
The video, released by local governor Oleksandr Prokudin, details several destroyed houses.
Earlier, we reported that at least one woman was killed and ten more injured, including two young girls, throughout yesterday’s strike in the region.
Russia steps up assaults on Pokrovsk front in Ukraine’s east
Tuesday 13 August 2024 11:00 , Tom Watling
Russian forces stepped up their attacks on the Pokrovsk front in eastern Ukraine over the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian military has announced, 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.
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.
The Russian attacks in the last 24 hours were focused around the villages of Hrodivka and Zhelanne, located about 20 km from Pokrovsk, the General Staff said.
The battles on the Pokrovsk front accounted for more than a third of all the battles reported along a 1,000-kilometer front, according to the Ukrainian readout.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and now controls 18 per cent of Ukrainian territory. Until the surprise attack on Russia, Ukraine had been losing territory to Russian forces.
Russia has shown its ineptitude – the West must help Ukraine finish the job
Tuesday 13 August 2024 10:30 , Tom Watling
Russia has shown its ineptitude – the West must help Ukraine finish the job
Ukraine locks down civilians near Russian border over sabotage fears
Tuesday 13 August 2024 10:00 , Tom Watling
Ukrainian forces have announced the restriction of civilian movement in border regions of Sumy over fears that Russian sabotage groups could jeopardise Kyiv’s cross-border attack into neighbouring Kursk.
Ukraine’s general staff made the announcement this morning, writing on Facebook: “The military command has introduced restrictions on the movement of all categories of citizens in the 12 mile (20-kilometre) border zone of Sumy region.”
They added that such measures would only be temporary but were vital while Ukraine’s historic, week-long attack into the Russian region of Kursk is ongoing.
Russian drones attacked energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region, national grid operator says
Tuesday 13 August 2024 09:40 , Tom Watling
Russian drones attacked energy infrastructure in Ukraine‘s northern region of Chernihiv overnight, national grid operator Ukrenergo has announced.
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.
One dead and multiple wounded in southern Ukraine after Russian attack
Tuesday 13 August 2024 09:15 , Tom Watling
At least one woman has been killed and ten other civilians injured in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson after eight hours of “massive strikes” by Russia.
Oleksandr Prokudin, the governor of the region, which is partially occupied by Russian forces, said the woman died in intensive care from “severe” injuries following overnight missile and drone attacks by Moscow.
“Yesterday evening, Russian troops began massive strikes in Kherson and its suburbs. Enemy shelling continued at night,” he wrote on the Telegram messenger app.
“In almost eight hours of enemy attacks, ten people were injured. Unfortunately, one woman died in intensive care.”
He added that among the wounded were two girls aged five and seven, while half of the total injured are still receiving treatment.
Zelensky’s statement IN FULL
Tuesday 13 August 2024 08:49 , Tom Watling
Earlier, we reported that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky announced in a video message that the war is “coming home” to Russia, in a reference to the Kursk attack launched a week ago today.
Below, we have his full statement, in which he linked the sinking of the Kursk submarine that killed more than 100 people in 2000 and the surprise attack in Kursk this week.
“We see how Russia really moves in the times of Putin: 24 years ago, there was the Kursk disaster – the symbolic beginning of his rule; and now we can see what the end for him is. And it is also Kursk. The disaster of his war,” Mr Zelensky wrote.
“This always happens to those who despise people and any rules. Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming home. Ukraine has always wished only for peace, and we will definitely ensure peace.
“I thank everyone who helps! Glory to all those who fight, who work for Ukraine!
Glory to Ukraine!”
Putin’s greatest fear is coming true – and he’s panicking
Tuesday 13 August 2024 08:30 , Tom Watling
Putin’s greatest fear is coming true – and he’s panicking | Mark Almond
Russian artist released in swap builds a new life in Germany, now free to marry her partner
Tuesday 13 August 2024 08:09 , Tom Watling
Russian artist released in swap builds a new life in Germany, now free to marry her partner
Russian evacuees pictured in makeshift camps in Kursk
Tuesday 13 August 2024 07:46 , Tom Watling
Russian evacuees relocated from areas in the border region of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces have staged a week-long incursion, as well as next door Belgorod, have been pictured in makeshift tents away from the fighting.
At least 76,000 citizens have been evacuated from Kursk, according to official estimates, while thousands more were moved from the nearby Russian region of Belgorod as well, after Ukrainian forces marched into Kursk last Tuesday in a surprise attack.
Vladimir Putin has called the assault a provocation and vowed a “worthy response”. Ukraine says Russians should not complain; Moscow has perpetrated considerably more widespread attacks against them for more than a decade.
UPD: Russia injures one, damages civilian infrastructure during overnight attack on Ukraine
Tuesday 13 August 2024 07:32 , Tom Watling
Earlier, we reported initial accounts that more than three dozen drones were fired by Russia into Ukraine overnight. Two ballistic missiles were also used in the attack.
We can now confirm that that attack injured one person and damaged civilian infrastructure.
Sumy regional authorities in northeast Ukraine 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.
In neighbouring Chernihiv, regional governor Vyacheslav Chaus said the attack targeted civilian infrastructure and reported no casualties in the northern region.
Regional officials in the central region of Vinnytsia said the attack damaged a residential building with no casualties reported.
The attack also damaged a building in the Mykolaiv region, according to regional governor Vitaliy Kim.
Here are some of the latest photos from the frontline in Ukraine
Tuesday 13 August 2024 07:26 , Tom Watling
Good morning.
Below are some of the latest photos from the frontline in Ukraine, in the Sumy region, from where Ukrainian forces have staged a cross-border attack into Russia.
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