Ukrainian forces are still “advancing further” into the Russian border region of Kursk as the military chief claims that they have taken nearly 390 square miles of territory.
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, which began a week ago, had been stabilised, Ukrainian forces were still pushing forwards. The main line of attack appears to be northwestward.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian military chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi claimed his troops had taken nearly 390 square miles of territory in Kursk, a huge portion of land in just a week.
Such a gain, if true, would mean his forces have taken almost three times as much territory in the past week than they did during their entire roughly three month counteroffensive last summer, according to estimates. ISW suggested the amount was closer to 308 square miles, which is still a considerable gain in a week.
“The troops are fulfilling their tasks. Fighting continues actually along the entire frontline,” the general said. “The situation is under our control.”
Key Points
- Zelensky vows war is ‘coming home’ to Russia - IN FULL
- Mapped: Ukraine’s cross-border attack
- Ukraine locks down civilians near Russian border over sabotage fears
- Russia steps up assaults on Pokrovsk front in Ukraine's east
- Footage shows damage in Kherson region after ‘massive’ Russian strikes
Romania defuses stray mine on its Black Sea shore
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
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
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
12:26
Tom Watling
UN rights office concerned about civilians after Ukraine offensive in Russia
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
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
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
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
10:30
Tom Watling
Ukraine locks down civilians near Russian border over sabotage fears
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
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
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
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
08:30
Tom Watling
Russian artist released in swap builds a new life in Germany, now free to marry her partner
08:09
Tom Watling
Russian evacuees pictured in makeshift camps in Kursk
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
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
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.
Thousands of Ukraine troops ready to defend land captured in daring attack into Russia
07:17
Tom Watling
US Senator calls Ukraine’s incursion into Russia ‘bold’, ‘beautiful’
06:56
Arpan Rai
US Republican senator Lindsey Graham called Ukraine‘s shock cross-border operation into Russia’s Kursk region “brilliant” and “bold” in a visit to Kyiv, and he urged the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs.
“What do I think about Kursk? Bold, brilliant, beautiful. Keep it up,” he told reporters. Graham made the comments during a visit to Kyiv with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal.
“Bottom line is to the administration... Give them weapons they need to win the war they can’t afford to lose,” he added. During the meeting with the Senate delegation, president Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the US for support.
“We discussed what exactly is needed to bring this war to a just end, including our need to use long-range weapons,” he said later in a post on X.
With Russia still struggling to repel the Ukrainian incursion seven days after it began, Ukraine’s top commander said Kyiv controlled around 1,000 sq km in the Kursk region.
Drone warfare continues to hit Kursk
06:38
Arpan Rai
Russia’s air defence units destroyed 14 drones that Ukraine launched overnight targeting Kursk, Voronezh and Belgorod region, Russia’s news agencies reported this morning.
Of these, 12 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.
Russia attacks Ukraine with 2 ballistic missiles, 38 attack drones overnight
06:33
Arpan Rai
Russia launched 38 attack drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said this morning.
Of this total, 30 drones were destroyed over several Ukrainian regions, the air force said on Telegram. It was not clear what happened to the air weapons that were not destroyed.
As of 4.20am GMT, all of Ukraine was under new air raid alerts with the threat of fresh air attacks, the air force added in a separate Telegram statement.
More Russians are urged to flee Ukraine's cross-border attack as the Kremlin scrambles to respond
06:00
Tom Watling
Putin says Ukraine’s attack on Russia aimed at ceasefire negotiations
05:52
Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s biggest attack on Russian territory since the start of the war was aimed at improving Kyiv’s negotiating position ahead of possible peace talks, Vladimir Putin said in his latest comments on the Kursk incursion.
Ukrainian forces rammed through the Russian border last Tuesday and swept across some western parts of Russia’s Kursk region, a surprise attack that laid bare the weakness of Russian border defences in the area.
Putin, in his most detailed public remarks on the incursion to date, said Ukraine “with the help of its Western masters” was trying to improve its position ahead of possible talks.
He questioned what negotiations there could be with an enemy he accused of firing indiscriminately at Russian civilians and nuclear facilities.
“The main task, of course, is for the defence ministry to squeeze out, to knock out the enemy from our territories,” Putin said, adding that Russian forces were accelerating their advance along the rest of the 1,000 km (620-mile) main front.
North Korean missiles kill two in Ukraine, says Zelensky
05:03
Arpan Rai
Ukraine has identified North Korean missiles fired by Russian forces on Kyiv in an attack which killed two people, Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“One of the North Korean missiles launched by the Russians, unfortunately, killed two people in the Kyiv region—a father and his four-year-old son,” Mr Zelensky said. Three others were injured in the attack and are receiving the necessary care, he said.
“Our experts have clearly identified the type of missile and know exactly from which area in Russian territory it was launched. It will be entirely just for Ukrainians to respond to this terror in the way necessary to stop it – with appropriate long-range strikes on the locations from which missiles are launched in Russia, and by effectively destroying Russian military logistics,” he said.
“Terror must always be defeated—this is a fundamental principle of protecting life,” the Ukrainian president said.
Putin’s greatest fear is coming true – and he’s panicking
05:00
Tom Watling
Putin must be forced to make peace if he is so set on fighting, says Zelensky
04:44
Arpan Rai
Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address that the war was now coming back to Russia after Moscow had taken fighting to other countries.
He said the major cross-border assault into the western region of Kursk was a matter of security for Ukraine and that Kyiv had captured areas from where Russia launched strikes.
“Russia must be forced to make peace if Putin wants to fight so badly,” Mr Zelensky said.
He added that the northeastern Sumy region, which lies across the border from Kursk, had been attacked almost 2,100 times by Russian cross-border strikes since 1 June.
“Russia brought war to others, now it’s coming home. Ukraine has always wanted only peace, and we will certainly ensure peace,” he said.
UN nuclear body says cause of fire still unclear at Zaporizhzhia power plant
04:25
Arpan Rai
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its representatives inspected the damaged cooling tower at the Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant in Ukraine and found no immediate sign of tyre marks or drone remains.
The team also assessed that it was unlikely that the primary source of the fire began at the base of the cooling tower, the IAEA said in a statement on its website last night.
“The team has not been able to draw definitive conclusions (on the cause of fire) on the basis of the findings and observations so far,” the agency said.
The fire began at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant on Sunday, and Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for starting it. Moscow has claimed a drone attack hit one of the cooling towers, Russian state news agency RIA reported, without providing evidence.
Kyiv controls 1,000 sq km of Russia’s Kursk region, says military chief
04:08
Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s top military commander says his forces now control 1,000 sq km (386 square miles) of Russia’s Kursk region. It is the first time a Ukrainian military official has publicly commented on the gains made in a lightning incursion that has embarrassed the Kremlin.
Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi made the statement in a video posted last night to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’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.
Mr Zelensky confirmed for the first time that the Ukrainian military is inside the Kursk region. On Telegram, he praised his country’s soldiers and commanders “for their steadfastness and decisive actions” but he did not elaborate.
The Ukrainian operation is taking place under tight secrecy, and its goals remain unclear. The manoeuvre caught the Kremlin’s forces off guard after months of unrelenting Russian attacks in recent months that have made gains through Ukrainian defences at several points along the frontline in eastern Ukraine.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said the incursion, which has caused more than 100,000 civilians to flee, is an attempt by Kyiv to stop Moscow’s offensive in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region and gain leverage in possible future peace talks.
On Geneva Conventions' 75th anniversary, fighters in Gaza, Ukraine and beyond ignore rulebook of war
04:00
Tom Watling
On Geneva Conventions' 75th anniversary, fighters in Gaza, Ukraine and beyond ignore rulebook of war
Thousands of Ukraine troops ready to defend land captured in daring attack into Russia
03:48
Arpan Rai
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.
Moscow’s forces are still scrambling to respond to the cross-border assault by Kyiv’s troops after almost a week of fierce fighting in the Kursk region, which borders northeast Ukraine. Acting Kursk governor Alexei Smirnov reported to Russian president Vladimir Putin that Ukrainian forces had pushed at least 7.5 miles (12km) over the border across a 24-mile front and currently control 28 Russian settlements. Ukraine’s army chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said around 390 sq m (1,000 sq km) in the Kursk region are under the control of his country’s troops.
Askold Krushelnycky reports:
Russia has shown its ineptitude – the West must help Ukraine finish the job
03:00
Tom Watling
Oleksandr Khyzhniak, Ukraine's gold medal-winning boxer, returns home and lifts spirits amid war
02:00
Tom Watling
Fire seen at Ukrainian nuclear power plant as 15 injured in Kursk drone strike
01:00
Tom Watling
Watch: Thick dark smoke rises from Russia-occupied nuclear plant during fire
Tuesday 13 August 2024 00:00
Tom Watling
On Geneva Conventions' 75th anniversary, fighters in Gaza, Ukraine and beyond ignore rulebook of war
Monday 12 August 2024 23:00
Tom Watling
On Geneva Conventions' 75th anniversary, fighters in Gaza, Ukraine and beyond ignore rulebook of war
Putin’s greatest fear is coming true – and he’s panicking
Monday 12 August 2024 22:00
Tom Watling
More Russians are urged to flee Ukraine's cross-border attack as the Kremlin scrambles to respond
Monday 12 August 2024 21:00
Tom Watling
People evacuated from Russia’s Kursk region seek aid
Monday 12 August 2024 20:00
Tom Watling
Putin holds meeting with senior officials after Ukrainian Kursk attack
Monday 12 August 2024 19:00
Tom Watling
Vladimir Putin has held a meeting with senior military officials, as well as local governors, to discuss the attack on the Kursk region bordering Ukraine.
Notable officials present at the meeting include the Kursk governor, Alexei Smirnov, military chief Valery Gerasimov and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu, now the security council chief.
Gerasimov has reportedly come under significant fire from Putin for not stopping the surprise Ukrainian attack into Kursk, which began in earnest last Tuesday and has since resulted in the loss of around 100 square miles of Russian land.
Ukraine says Russian guided bomb attacks have decreased sharply in Kharkiv region
Monday 12 August 2024 18:00
Tom Watling
Russian forces have reduced the number of guided bomb attacks on border settlements in Ukraine‘s northeastern Kharkiv region, the local governor said on Monday, while Moscow troops struggle to repel Ukraine‘s cross-border assault in the Kursk region.
Russia has long been pummelling Ukrainian villages lying on the border with artillery and extremely destructive guided bombs. It stepped up attacks on the Kharkiv region in May, when Moscow’s troops opened a new front in the region’s north.
“We have been recording a sharp decrease in guided bomb strikes in recent days. If our border area has seen from 30 to 60 guided bomb strikes per day, now no more than 10,” Oleh Syniehubov, the governor, told national TV.
He added though that Russia continued attacking civilian infrastructure, and for that reason regional authorities planned to tighten curfew rules for some 100 settlements near the border and the front line.
Moscow denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure in its invasion of Ukraine. Thousands of people have been killed and injured in its attacks.
At the same time, regional authorities in the neighbouring Sumy region, adjacent to Russia’s Kursk region, reported an unprecedented number of airstrikes following the launch of the biggest border incursion into Russia during more than 29 months old full-scale war.
Ukraine says Russia tries to accuse it of false war crimes in Kursk
Monday 12 August 2024 17:00
Tom Watling
Ukraine‘s State Security Service (SBU) has said that Russia is trying to falsely accuse Kyiv’s military of war crimes amid the cross-border incursion in Russia’s west Kursk region.
SBU said on the Telegram messenger that it had information showing Russia may stage crimes which it would blame Ukraine for.
The Independent was not able to verify these claims, nor those made by Moscow.
Next Ukraine peace summit should include Russia, Swiss minister says
Monday 12 August 2024 16:00
Tom Watling
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said Monday he had signed a joint declaration with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani expressing “deep concern” over Russian aggression in Ukraine, but said Moscow should be present at the next peace summit.
Switzerland in mid-June hosted dozens of world leaders at a summit aimed at crafting a pathway towards peace in Ukraine, although Russia was not invited.
“We support holding a second peace summit that includes all parties, including Russia,” Cassis said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Putin says Russia will expel Ukrainian forces from border region
Monday 12 August 2024 15:35
Tom Watling
Russian president Vladimir Putin has claimed that the army would eject Ukrainian troops from Russian sovereign territory after Kyiv’s biggest incursion across the border since the start of the war in 2022.
Ukrainian forces rammed through the Russian border last Tuesday and swept across some western parts of Russia’s Kursk region, a surprise attack that may be aimed at gaining leverage in possible ceasefire talks after the US election in November.
Putin, in his most detailed remarks on the incursion to date, said that Ukraine “with the help of his Western masters” was trying to improve its negotiating position ahead of possible ceasefire talks and to undermine Russian advances.
Putin told security officials and regional governors that the Ukrainian forces were suffering heavy casualties in their incursion.
“The enemy will certainly receive a worthy response, and all the goals facing us will, without a doubt, be achieved.”
Putin said Ukraine was trying to intimidate Russian society and thus undermine stability. He warned senior officials that Ukraine would seek to further destabilise border regions.
We have some more pictures from the frontline in northeast Ukraine
Monday 12 August 2024 15:10
Tom Watling