Russian troops have launched a large-scale offensive across western Kursk, to reclaim territory seized by Ukraine last summer.
Major General Apti Alaudinov, commander of a Chechen unit fighting for Russia in Kursk, said that "the enemy is abandoning its positions", after reports showed Kyiv’s forces were encircled.
Ukraine's military did not immediately comment.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Kyiv is “fully committed” to constructive dialogue with US representatives in Saudi Arabia next week and hoped to agree the next steps.
“Ukraine has been seeking peace from the very first second of this war. Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X.
Mr Zelensky said he would visit Saudi Arabia next week and after he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, Ukrainian diplomatic and military representatives would stay for a meeting the following day with the US team.
US representatives have already held two sets of talks with their Russian counterparts, the first of which was in Saudi Arabia.
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Key Points
- Russian offensive underway against Ukrainian forces in Kursk
- Ukraine's air defences down 73 of 119 Russian drones overnight, Kyiv says
- UK is not considering conscription, says senior minister
- Russia says it downed 88 Ukrainian drones overnight
- 'Concerned' King set to urge global unity on Commonwealth Day
- Trump threatens Russia with more sanctions after missile strike
Lord Heseltine calls for major Brexit rethink in wake of Trump's actions over Ukraine
11:16
,
Tara Cobham
A major Brexit rethink is needed on defence and security, former deputy prime minister Lord Michael Heseltine has warned in the wake of Donald Trump’s shocking actions in withdrawing military aid and intelligence from Ukraine.
Writing in The Independent, the Tory peer believes the threat of Mr Trump’s administration has opened the doors for Keir Starmer to have a much more profound repair of the damage of Brexit beyond the limited ambitions of his reset talks.
Lord Heseltine, who played a significant role in the Remain campaign, sees the rethink as leading to a single European military command structure and defence of the continent’s borders.
Read Lord Heseltine’s piece here:
Latvian president calls for European countries to 'absolutely' introduce conscription and up defence spending
11:00
,
Tara Cobham
The Latvian president has called for European countries to “absolutely” introduce conscription as well as up defence spending.
Edgars Rinkevics also admitted the continent is currently “quite weak” militarily, which is especially notable amid the “ups and downs” in its relationship with the US.
Latvia introduced conscription for men two years ago, while its defence spending is now four per cent of its GDP.
Mr Rinkevics told Sky News' Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: "Seeing what is happening in the world, the decision that we took – many other European countries need to follow that.
"A lot of people are a little bit nervous. People are following the news. Of course strong reassurances [are] one thing, but another thing is other European governments [have] to make sure that we all get stronger."
Russia says it has taken another village in east Ukraine's Donetsk region
10:34
,
Tara Cobham
Russia's Defence Ministry said on Sunday that it had taken the village of Konstyantynopil, in the southern part of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.
King 'concerned' about US and Canada clashes as he is set to urge global unity on Commonwealth Day
10:30
,
Tara Cobham
The King is reportedly concerned about the clashes between the US and Canada as he is set to urge global unity in his Commonwealth Day message tomorrow.
Amid global instability and discord between world leaders over Russia’s war in Ukraine, The Sunday Times reported Charles is expected to say: “In these uncertain times, where it is all too easy to believe that our differences are problems instead of a source of strength and an opportunity for learning, the Commonwealth’s remarkable collection of nations and peoples come together in the spirit of support and, crucially, friendship … The Commonwealth’s ability to bring together people from all over the world has stood the test of time and remains as ever important today.”
The 76-year-old monarch will attend the the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey alongside the Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales on Monday
It comes after the King met Justin Trudeau last Monday amid the outgoing Canadian prime minister’s ongoing clashes with Donald Trump over the US president’s imposition of tariffs.
Russia says it has taken one village in Kursk region and another across Ukrainian border
10:00
,
Tara Cobham
Russia's Defence Ministry said on Sunday that it had retaken the village of Lebedevka in Russia's Kursk region, and taken the village of Novenke, across the border in Ukraine's Sumy region.
Russian forces had been largely absent from Ukraine's Sumy region since April 2022, when they withdrew from the border province in order to refocus their forces on eastern Ukraine.
Countries can't be 'dragooned' by UK into coalition of the willing, senior minister says
09:34
,
Tara Cobham
Countries cannot be "dragooned" into the coalition of the willing by the UK, a senior minister has said.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said that "people have to be up for it".
Asked on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg how many countries have said they would be willing to take part, Mr McFadden said: "These discussions are going on, I think it's important to have European countries involved in this.
"The phrase 'step up' has been used quite a lot in recent weeks. The UK is stepping up.
"The Prime Minister certainly stepped up and other countries have indicated that they want to do that.
"Of course, coalition of the willing means people have to be up for it. They have to step forward themselves, they can't be dragooned by us.
"But the UK and the Prime Minister is playing an important role in those discussions, and will continue to do that."
Cabinet Office minister refuses to be drawn on US revoking satellite images for Ukraine
09:33
,
Tara Cobham
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden did not say whether or not it was wrong for the US to have withdrawn satellite images and other information from Ukraine.
Asked whether it was "wrong", Mr McFadden told Sky News' Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: "Well, it's their decision. It's not something that we've done.
"We support Ukraine, we continue to supply Ukraine with weapons, with intelligence support, with help on the cyber front, because we believe that they're engaged in a really important fight for their country's freedom and the capacity to decide their own future."
Pushed further on whether the White House bears any responsibility for casualties in Ukraine, Mr McFadden said: "With regard to the United States, what they're trying to do is bring the war to an end. I think that aim is shared by everyone.
"What we want to secure is not just an end to the fighting, but a peace that lasts, and that has underlined every action the prime minister has taken in recent weeks, because it will do nothing to secure Ukraine's future if we have a temporary ceasefire, which lasts only as long as president Putin wants it to."
UK is not considering conscription, says senior minister
09:26
,
Tara Cobham
The UK is not considering conscription, a senior minister has said.
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden told Sky News' Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that "Europe does have to step up in terms of its own defence".
Asked whether conscription is something in mind, Mr McFadden said: "We're not considering conscription, but, of course, we've announced a major increase in defence expenditure a couple of weeks ago, and we do have to recognise that the world has changed here.
"The phrase 'step up' is used a lot in recent weeks and Europe does have to step up in terms of its own defence.
"President Trump isn't actually the first president to say that, but he said it more loudly and with more force than his predecessors. So, I think we've got to recognise that moment."
Mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine 'given meat grinders' by officials in 'shameful' move
09:00
,
Tara Cobham
Mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine have been given meat grinders by local officials from Russia’s ruling party in a move branded “shameful”, with the appliance used to described Russian frontline tactics.
Online commentators also called the gifts from the United Russian party in the northern Murmansk region “inappropriate” as bereaved mothers were pictured on social media being visited by the officials on International Women’s Day on Saturday.
Included in the post was also a messaged thanking the “dear mums” for their “strength of spirit and the love you put into bringing up your sons”.
Russia uses gas pipeline to surprise Ukrainian forces in Kursk, bloggers say
08:30
Russia was storming the town of Sudzha on Sunday after special forces used a gas pipeline to surprise Ukrainian units as part of a major offensive to eject Ukrainian soldiers from the western Russian region of Kursk, pro-Russian war bloggers said.
Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers seized about 1,300 square km of Russia's Kursk region in August last year in what Kyiv said was an attempt to gain a bargaining chip in future negotiations and to force Russia to shift military forces from eastern Ukraine.
Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, said Russian special forces had walked about 15 km along the inside of a major gas pipeline and some had spent several days in the pipe before surprising Ukrainian forces from the rear near Sudzha.
Sudzha is the home of major gas transfer and measuring stations on a pipeline that used to carry Russian natural gas into the Ukrainian gas transmission system for onward transportation to Europe.
Pro-Russian war blogger Two Majors said a major battle was under way for Sudzha and that Russian forces had surprised Ukrainian soldiers by entering the town via a major gas pipeline.
Russian Telegram channels showed pictures of special forces in gas masks and lights, some using colourful Russian curses, along the inside of what looked like a large pipe.
"Fighting continued throughout the night in Sudzha," said Podolyaka. "The fighting did not stop."
Another war blogger, Yuri Kotenok, said that Ukrainian forces have been moving equipment away from Sudzha, closer to the border.
The reports could not immediately be independently verified.
Russia says it downed 88 Ukrainian drones overnight
08:00
,
Tara Cobham
Russia's air defence units destroyed 88 Ukrainian drones overnight with no injuries or damage reported, Russian authorities said on Sunday.
The Russian defence ministry said that 52 of the drones were destroyed over the border Belgorod region, while 13 were over the Lipetsk region and nine were over the Rostov region, both in Russia's southwest.
The rest of the Ukrainian drones were downed over Russia's Voronezh, Astrakhan, Krasnodar, Ryazan and Kursk regions.
Governors of the Lipetsk and Ryazan regions said overnight that their regions were under air raid alerts but they did not report any damage or injuries.
Russia's aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said on Telegram that the airports of Astrakhan, Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan were closed for traffic for several hours overnight to ensure air safety.
Unofficial Russian news Telegram channels reported that the Ukrainian attack on Ryazan and Lipetsk targeted local oil refineries.
Ukrainian Lieutenant Andriy Kovalenko, who heads the Center for Countering Disinformation, part of the National Security and Defense Council, said, without providing evidence or saying directly that Ukrainian drones were involved, that the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant in Lipetsk was under attack.
The reports on what was targeted in the attacks could not be independently verified.
Ukraine's air defences down 73 of 119 Russian drones overnight, Kyiv says
07:42
,
Tara Cobham
Ukraine's air defences shot down 73 of 119 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack on Sunday, the air force said.
It said that 37 drones were "lost", in reference to the military's use of electronic warfare to redirect them. The military said damage was recorded in six Ukrainian regions but provided no immediate details.
Rishi Sunak warns Kyiv could be left without support and compensation if Russian assets are not seized
07:30
,
Stuti Mishra
Rishi Sunak warned that Kyiv could be left without support and compensation if Russian assets are not seized.
The former prime minister reiterated his calls for ministers to seize frozen state assets to help Ukraine in the war and put more pressure on Russia.
Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Sunak said that Moscow "will undoubtedly owe Ukraine reparations for the horrific damage it has inflicted on the country".
He said that "Ukraine needs financial support without delay as it continues to defend itself against this brutal assault", and warned "there is a danger that if these assets are not seized now, Ukraine may never get the support it needs and the compensation it deserves."
"Now is a time for action," Mr Sunak added.
"We must move to seize Russian state assets and transfer them to Ukraine so it can defend itself at its moment of maximum need."
European leadership is needed where Donald Trump is failing
07:02
,
Tom Watling
Healey to join talks on Ukraine peace deal
06:30
,
Stuti Mishra
Defence secretary John Healey is expected to join talks with counterparts next week, as the UK and France lead efforts to get nations to commit to a "coalition of the willing" to back a peace deal in Ukraine.
The UK's diplomatic push on securing a peace deal continued on Saturday, as Keir Starmer welcomed a commitment from Australia to "consider contributing" after a call with his counterpart Anthony Albanese.
A readout of the conversation from a Downing Street spokesperson said: "He welcomed prime minister Albanese's commitment to consider contributing to a coalition of the willing for Ukraine and looked forward to the chiefs of defence meeting in Paris on Tuesday."
Officials from about 20 largely European and Commonwealth countries took part in the talks about the peacekeeping coalition earlier this week.
Not all the countries interested in the plan would necessarily provide troops to a peacekeeping force but they could potentially contribute in other ways.
Russian offensive underway against Ukrainian forces in Kursk
05:57
,
Stuti Mishra
Russian troops have launched a large-scale offensive to retake swaths of the western Kursk region from Ukrainian forces, war bloggers and a senior Russian commander said.
Ukrainian troops stormed into Russia's Kursk region last summer, taking chunks of territory in an unexpected lightning attack more than two years after Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.
"In all directions of the Kursk section of the front, all units have launched a large-scale offensive," Major General Apti Alaudinov, commander of a Chechen unit fighting for Russia in Kursk, said on Telegram. "The enemy is abandoning its positions."
Ukraine's military did not immediately comment.
Open source maps showed this week that Ukraine's positions in Kursk have deteriorated sharply and its troops are nearly surrounded by Russian forces.
The precarious situation for Ukraine follows a pause in US military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv as US President Donald Trump puts pressure on Kyiv to agree to a ceasefire with Moscow.
Pro-Russian war blogger Two Majors said on Saturday Russian troops had begun an assault on Sudzha, a town about six miles (9.5km) from the border with Ukraine, and that the situation for Ukrainian troops there was "close to critical".
Major General Alaudinov said Russian airborne brigades, motorised rifle regiments and the Akhmat special forces were taking part in "fierce battles" and "our guys are moving forward very well".
Russian troops recaptured three villages in Kursk – Viktorovka, Nikolaevka and Staraya Sorochina – from Ukraine on Saturday, the defence ministry said. Reuters could not independently verify its report.
Trump gives cryptic answer when asked about Ukraine Russia peace deal
05:00
,
Tom Watling
Death toll from Russian strikes rises to 25
04:30
,
Stuti Mishra
At least 25 people have been killed in Ukraine following a wave of Russian strikes, officials said, with the deadliest attack hitting the Donetsk region town of Dobropillya late on Friday. Two ballistic missiles struck residential buildings and a shopping centre, killing at least 11 people.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia then launched another strike targeting emergency responders. "Such strikes show that Russia's goals are unchanged," he wrote on Telegram.
Elsewhere in Donetsk, nine more people were killed and 13 injured between Friday and Saturday, according to local officials. In the Kharkiv region, drones hit a company in Bohodukhiv, killing three and injuring seven, while another attack in Odesa damaged energy infrastructure. Officials said it was the seventh attack on the region’s energy system in three weeks.
Poland's Tusk plans large-scale military training for all adult males to boost reserves
04:00
,
Tom Watling
David Lammy condemns Russian strike
03:37
,
Stuti Mishra
David Lammy has condemned the latest Russian strikes on Ukraine as "abhorrent", as Moscow continued its barrage.
The foreign secretary said the "barbaric aggression only strengthens our resolve" to support Kyiv, after further strikes over the weekend.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday further Russian strikes prove "they are not thinking about how to end the war" and that he is "grateful to all the leaders, diplomats from partner countries, and civil society figures who support Ukraine".
In a post on X, Mr Lammy said: "This barbaric aggression only strengthens our resolve to stand with Ukraine."
Mr Zelensky had earlier said that 11 people had died in a strike in the city of Dobropillya, and that there had been further attacks in Donetsk, Kharkiv and the southern regions.
He added: "Russia continues to prove with its cruelty, day after day, that nothing has changed for them in Moscow - they are not thinking about how to end the war, but how to destroy and capture more while the world allows them to continue. Of course, we are doing everything we can to protect lives."
Trump threatens Russia with more sanctions after missile strike
03:00
,
Tom Watling
Tucker: I’m ‘definitely more sympathetic to Putin than Zelensky’
02:00
,
Tom Watling
Trump contradicts himself on Russia halting Ukraine invasion
01:00
,
Tom Watling
Ukraine supporters focus on hope and resilience as US relations sour and war carries on
00:00
,
Tom Watling
European leadership is needed where Donald Trump is failing
Saturday 8 March 2025 23:00
,
Tom Watling
Russia increased strikes on Ukraine since Trump's inauguration
Saturday 8 March 2025 22:00
,
Tom Watling
Russia has intensified it’s aerial attacks of Ukraine since US president Donald Trump’s return to the White House, casting further shade on his assertion that Kyiv is the obstacle to peace.
Russia, not Ukraine, is the obstacle to peace.
— George Barros (@georgewbarros) March 8, 2025
This is evident in the data. Russia has intensified its drone/missile strike campaign against Ukraine after President Trump was inaugurated.
Ukraine has offered many concessions to start peace processes.
Russia has offered zero. pic.twitter.com/JPqdHnygb9
