Authorities in Russia’s Kursk region have decided to evacuate a population of 20,000 people from the Glushkov district amid the continued advance of Ukrainian forces into the border region.
Ukraine said yesterday its cross-border invasion had advanced one to two kilometres into the Kursk region and that its troops had finished clearing the Russian border town of Sudzha of Moscow’s forces.
Meanwhile, Kyiv carried out its largest long-range drone strike of the war on four Russian military airfields, security sources claimed.
The strike, which targeted Russia’s Voronezh, Kursk, Savasleyka and Borisoglebsk air bases up to 500 miles over the border, was aimed to undermine Moscow’s ability to use warplanes for glide bomb attacks.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed his army was continuing to advance deeper into Russia after it launched an incursion over the border just over a week ago.
In Belgorod, which borders Kursk, the governor said the situation was “extremely tense” and claimed Kyiv’s troops had been shelling his oblast over the past few days.
Key Points
- Russia orders evacuation of thousands from Kursk region
- Ukraine hits Russian airfields in drone attack
- Mapped: Ukraine’s cross-border attack
- Ukraine still advancing in Kursk, Zelensky claims
- Belgorod declares state of emergency
- Ukraine launches ‘huge drone barrage’
Ukrainian soldiers ambush truck filled with Russian troops
04:30
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Ukrainian soldiers have ambushed a truck filled with Russian troops as they continue their Kursk offensive.
Bodycam footage shows Ukrainian soldiers in pursuit of Vladimir Putin’s soldiers with grenades and guns.
A military vehicle also bursts into flames with plumes of black smoke sent billowing up into the air.
Watch here.
Russia orders evacuation of thousands from Kursk region
04:13
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Authorities in Russia’s Kursk region have decided to evacuate the population of its Glushkov district, acting governor Alexei Smirnov said, amid the continued advance of Ukrainian forces into the border region.
Police and other state bodies would coordinate to evacuate 20,000 people from the district directly bordering Ukraine, Mr Smirnov said on the Telegram.
Ukraine said yesterday its cross-border invasion had advanced one to two kilometres into the Kursk region since the start of the day and that its troops had finished clearing the Russian border town of Sudzha of Moscow’s forces.
Russian officials have said that nearly 200,000 people were being evacuated following the attack.
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More Russians are urged to flee Ukraine's cross-border attack as the Kremlin scrambles to respo
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Alexander Butler
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02:00
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Putin tells 76,000 Russians to evacuate in the wake of Ukrainian advance
01:00
Alexander Butler
Watch: Thick dark smoke rises from Russia-occupied nuclear plant during fire
Wednesday 14 August 2024 23:00
Alexander Butler
Dark smoke plumes pour into the sky meters above a cooling tower at a Russia-occupied nuclear plant on Sunday 11 August.
A Russian governor claimed the fire began with Ukrainian shelling while Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Vladimir Putin’s forces had caused the fire.
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog said experts “witnessed thick dark smoke” after hearing multiple explosions throughout the evening.
It comes as the Russian defence ministry said Ukrainian troops had advanced as much as 19 miles into Russia’s Kursk region in an audacious cross-border attack that began over a week ago.
Putin’s greatest fear is coming true – and he’s panicking
Wednesday 14 August 2024 22:00
Alexander Butler
Thousands of Ukraine troops ready to defend land captured in daring attack into Russia
Wednesday 14 August 2024 21:00
Alexander Butler
Ukraine keeps advancing in attack inside Russia that has humiliated Putin
Wednesday 14 August 2024 20:00
Alexander Butler
Watch: Russia will be held accountable as Ukraine continue advance into Kursk, warns Zelensky
Wednesday 14 August 2024 19:00
Alexander Butler
Zelensky says Kyiv is advancing further into Kursk after huge drone and missile attack
Wednesday 14 August 2024 18:00
Alexander Butler
Ukraine has advanced further inside Russia after it launched a massive drone and missile barrage over the border on Wednesday morning, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed.
Mr Zelensky said his troops had gained between one to two kilometres in Kursk despite Moscow claiming it had halted Kyiv’s advance after it launched the shock incursion on 6 August.
It came after Russian officials said Ukraine had fired 117 drones and four tactical missiles across the border, with 37 hitting Kursk as thousands of troops poured into Russia.
Ukraine hits Russian airfields in drone attack
Wednesday 14 August 2024 16:31
Alexander Butler
Ukraine carried out its largest long-range drone strike of the war on four Russian military airfields, security sources claimed.
The strike, which targeted Russia’s Voronezh, Kursk, Savasleyka and Borisoglebsk air bases up to 500 miles over the border, was aimed to undermine Moscow’s ability to use warplanes for glide bomb attacks.
“Long-range drones of the security service of Ukraine and defence forces carried out the largest attack on Russian military airfields of the entire war,” an official in the Ukrainian security service, the SBU, told the Financial Times.
Zelensky discusses need for military administration in Russia’s Kursk region
Wednesday 14 August 2024 15:30
Alexander Butler
Zelensky said he had held a meeting on the security and humanitarian situation in Russia’s Kursk region where the Ukrainian military has been advancing in an unprecedented cross-border assault.
“Security, humanitarian aid, creation of military administrations if necessary,” he said on Telegram, posting a video of the meeting with Kyiv’s top officials.
Pictured: Ukraine’s offensive
Wednesday 14 August 2024 14:56
Alexander Butler
Ukraine to create security zone in Kursk
Wednesday 14 August 2024 14:32
Alexander Butler
Ukraine is creating a “security zone” in Russia’s Kursk region and plans to organize humanitarian assistance and evacuation corridors for civilians looking to go either to Russia or to Ukraine, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
She added on Telegram on Wednesday that Ukraine planned to organise access to the area for international humanitarian organizations as well.
Ukraine still advancing in Kursk, Zelensky claims
Wednesday 14 August 2024 14:25
Alexander Butler
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed his army is continuing to advance deeper into Russia after it launched an incursion over the border just over a week ago.
Zelensky said his forces have moved forward one to two kilometres in various directions inside Kursk today, although this hasn’t been independently verified.
Overnight, Ukraine fired at least 117 drones and four tactical missiles on Russian territory, including 37 on Kursk, Russian officials also said.
Putin’s greatest fear is coming true – and he’s panicking
Wednesday 14 August 2024 13:45
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.
Ukraine’s troops still advancing in Russia’s Kursk region, Zelensky says
Wednesday 14 August 2024 13:30
Alexander Butler
Ukraine said its major cross-border assault had advanced one to two kilometres in Russia’s Kursk region since the start of Wednesday and that its troops had finished clearing the Russian town of Sudzha of Moscow’s forces.
Kyiv 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.
In a video posted on his Telegram account, President Volodymyr Zelensky was shown being briefed by his top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, by video link.
“We continue to advance further in Kursk region. From one to two kilometres in various areas since the start of the day. And more than 100 Russian prisoners of war in the same period,” Zelensky wrote in a statement published alongside the video.
Ukraine says it destroyed Russian jet in Kursk region
Wednesday 14 August 2024 13:15
Alexander Butler
Ukraine’s military claims to have destroyed a Russian fighter jet over Kursk.
The General Staff said the Su-34 aircraft, worth around $30m, was destroyed during a combat mission in the Russian border region overnight.
“Work to eliminate the occupiers, their equipment and weapons continues on an ongoing basis,” it said.
Defense forces destroyed the enemy Su-34 aircraft. The sky over the Kursk region became clearer — @CinC_AFU pic.twitter.com/eUZHtiBnr0
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 14, 2024
Four Russian military airfields hit in ‘major drone attack’, says Ukraine
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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’
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 11:48
Alexander Butler
Ukraine has captured 100 Russian prisoners of war in Kursk, a top commander has said.
Mapped: Ukrainian invasion of Russia
Wednesday 14 August 2024 11:35
Alexander Butler
Kyiv’s operations in Kursk are ‘defensive’, Poland says
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 09:21
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Russia attacked energy facilities in Ukraine, national grid operator says
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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:
Russian artist released in swap builds a new life in Germany, now free to marry her partner
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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:
Ukraine still advancing in Russia’s Kursk region, hints at ‘next steps’
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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:
Biden calls Ukraine incursion 'a real dilemma for Putin'
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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
Wednesday 14 August 2024 03:00
Holly Evans
Are cheap holidays on offer because Russians can’t travel outside their country?
Wednesday 14 August 2024 02:00
Holly Evans
Russia intensifies attacks in eastern Ukraine
Wednesday 14 August 2024 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:
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:
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:
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.