Zelenskiy taking ‘insane’ steps over Kursk incursion, claim Russian security services
Welcome to our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict amid the dramatic incursion into Kursk by Kyiv’s forces.
On Tuesday, Russia’s foreign intelligence services accused Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, of taking “insane” steps that threaten to escalate the war far beyond his country, according to a report from Russia’s RIA state news service.
It comes as Ukraine’s top military commander says his forces now control 1,000 square km (386 square miles) of the Kursk region, Associated Press reports.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi made the statement in a video posted on Monday to Zelenskiy’s Telegram channel. In the video, he briefed the president on the frontline situation.
“The troops are fulfilling their tasks. Fighting continues actually along the entire front line. The situation is under our control,” Syrskyi said.
Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has vowed a “worthy response” to the Kursk attack and ordered his troops to “dislodge the enemy from our territories”.
In other news:
-
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said late on Monday that its representatives had inspected a damaged cooling tower at the Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine but could not immediately determine the cause of a fire there at the weekend. Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of starting the fire at the vast dormant nuclear power plant in Ukraine, with Russia blaming a drone attack and Ukraine saying it was likely Russia’s negligence or arson.
-
In a meeting with his national security council Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said the attack was aimed at improving Kyiv’s negotiating position ahead of possible peace talks and at slowing the advance of Russian forces. “The main task, of course, is for the defence ministry to squeeze out, to knock out the enemy from our territories,” Putin said, adding: “The enemy will certainly receive a worthy response.”
-
Zelenskiy said the Kursk attack was targeting areas from which Russia was launching assaults on Ukrainian territory. “It is only fair to destroy Russian terrorists where they are, where they launch their strikes from,” he said in his nightly address. “Russian military airfields, Russian logistics. We see how useful this can be for bringing peace closer. Russia must be forced into peace if Putin wants to continue waging war so badly. He added: “Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming home.”
-
Ukrainian forces in Kursk were trying to encircle Sudzha, where Russian natural gas flows into Ukraine, Reuters reported. Major battles were also under way near Korenevo, about 22 km (14 miles) from the border, and Martynovka village.
-
Putin said on Monday that, despite the attack, “our armed forces are moving forward along the entire line of contact” in Ukraine. Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday its troops had “accelerated the speed of advance” in the eastern Donetsk region and taken the hamlet of Lysychne in their push towards the city of Pokrovsk. It was not possible to verify the claim independently.
-
Ukrainian prosecutors said on Monday that law enforcement authorities had detained one of the country’s four deputy energy ministers and three other people as they were receiving part of a $500,000 bribe. An investigation revealed that the suspects had organised a scheme to smuggle mining equipment belonging to a state-owned coal mining enterprise out of the combat zone in the Donetsk region, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. The suspects were not named.
Key events
Russia’s air defence units destroyed 14 drones that Ukraine launched overnight targeting Kursk, Voronezh and Belgorod region, Russia’s news agencies reported on Tuesday.
Twelve of the drones were destroyed over the border region of Kursk, and one each over Voronezh and Belgorod regions, RIA agency reported citing Russia’s defence ministry.
There was no information provided on how many drones in total Ukraine had launched overnight.
Ukraine pummelled two Russian regions with drones on Tuesday as its ground forces tried to smash through defensive lines in a bid to carve out even more territory in its biggest attack on Russian territory since the war began.
Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Russian border, about 530 km (330 miles) south-west of Moscow, a week ago, in a surprise attack that President Vladimir Putin said was aimed at improving Kyiv’s negotiating position ahead of possible talks and slowing the advance of Russian forces along the rest of the front.
Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence units destroyed 12 drones over the Kursk region, one over the Belgorod region and one over Voronezh. Russian officials in Kursk and Belgorod put out warnings of missile attacks.
Russia launched 38 attack drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said on Tuesday.
Thirty of the drones were destroyed over eight Ukrainian regions, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app. It was not clear what happened to the weapons that were not destroyed, Reuters reported.
Sumy regional authorities said the attack injured one person and damaged a power line and a gas pipeline, leaving some residents of the city of Sumy without electricity and gas supplies.
The attack also damaged a hospital building and several cars in the region, the authorities said.
Zelenskiy taking ‘insane’ steps over Kursk incursion, claim Russian security services
Welcome to our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict amid the dramatic incursion into Kursk by Kyiv’s forces.
On Tuesday, Russia’s foreign intelligence services accused Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, of taking “insane” steps that threaten to escalate the war far beyond his country, according to a report from Russia’s RIA state news service.
It comes as Ukraine’s top military commander says his forces now control 1,000 square km (386 square miles) of the Kursk region, Associated Press reports.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi made the statement in a video posted on Monday to Zelenskiy’s Telegram channel. In the video, he briefed the president on the frontline situation.
“The troops are fulfilling their tasks. Fighting continues actually along the entire front line. The situation is under our control,” Syrskyi said.
Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has vowed a “worthy response” to the Kursk attack and ordered his troops to “dislodge the enemy from our territories”.
In other news:
-
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said late on Monday that its representatives had inspected a damaged cooling tower at the Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine but could not immediately determine the cause of a fire there at the weekend. Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of starting the fire at the vast dormant nuclear power plant in Ukraine, with Russia blaming a drone attack and Ukraine saying it was likely Russia’s negligence or arson.
-
In a meeting with his national security council Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said the attack was aimed at improving Kyiv’s negotiating position ahead of possible peace talks and at slowing the advance of Russian forces. “The main task, of course, is for the defence ministry to squeeze out, to knock out the enemy from our territories,” Putin said, adding: “The enemy will certainly receive a worthy response.”
-
Zelenskiy said the Kursk attack was targeting areas from which Russia was launching assaults on Ukrainian territory. “It is only fair to destroy Russian terrorists where they are, where they launch their strikes from,” he said in his nightly address. “Russian military airfields, Russian logistics. We see how useful this can be for bringing peace closer. Russia must be forced into peace if Putin wants to continue waging war so badly. He added: “Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming home.”
-
Ukrainian forces in Kursk were trying to encircle Sudzha, where Russian natural gas flows into Ukraine, Reuters reported. Major battles were also under way near Korenevo, about 22 km (14 miles) from the border, and Martynovka village.
-
Putin said on Monday that, despite the attack, “our armed forces are moving forward along the entire line of contact” in Ukraine. Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday its troops had “accelerated the speed of advance” in the eastern Donetsk region and taken the hamlet of Lysychne in their push towards the city of Pokrovsk. It was not possible to verify the claim independently.
-
Ukrainian prosecutors said on Monday that law enforcement authorities had detained one of the country’s four deputy energy ministers and three other people as they were receiving part of a $500,000 bribe. An investigation revealed that the suspects had organised a scheme to smuggle mining equipment belonging to a state-owned coal mining enterprise out of the combat zone in the Donetsk region, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. The suspects were not named.