Ukraine sets up military office in Kursk

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Ukraine set up a military office in an occupied part of Kursk on Thursday as Kyiv sought to cement its control over the Russian region.
Oleksandr Syrsky, Kyiv’s top general, said his forces now hold 1,150 sq km of the border region in southern Russia.
He told Volodymyr Zelensky that his forces had complete control of Sudzha, the home of Russia’s last gas terminal for shipments to Europe, and were still advancing throughout the region.
“We are moving forward in the Kursk region,” Gen Syrsky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“A military commandant’s office has been created which must ensure order and also all the needs of the local population.”
Ukraine launched its daring cross-border raid into Russian territory early last week.
It was the first foreign invasion of Russian soil since the Second World War.
Maj Gen Eduard Moskalyov has been put in charge of the management of the captured territory, which includes around 82 villages, towns and cities.
The administration was required “to maintain law and order and address the population’s urgent needs,” Gen Syrskyi said.
Each Ukrainian region has been given its own military administration since Russia invaded in February 2022 to help co-ordinate civilian-military issues.
Western analysts have recorded a slowing in Ukraine’s operational tempo after the lightning assault captured large swathes of Russian territory.
Moscow has ordered the digging of trenches and the building of a network of fortifications some 30 miles north of its border with Ukraine.
Ukraine also said Moscow had attempted to initiate the first talks over an exchange of prisoners of war since the start of the full-scale invasion to free Russians captured in the rout.
The negotiations came after what Kyiv’s domestic security services hailed as the “biggest capture of the enemy that has been carried out at one time”.
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, said his Russian counterpart had contacted him in the hope of opening discussions.
“There was a proactive conversation with our Russian counterpart on this issue,” he said.
“We have priority categories that we are ready to exchange. First of all, these are the seriously wounded,” the official added.
“Secondly, Ukrainian women, and thirdly, all those who remain in captivity.”
Ukraine has not disclosed the exact number of Russian prisoners its forces have captured in Kursk but a video shared online by one unit suggested the number could be between 400 and 500.
One video shared on social media purported to show the capture of at least 102 Russian soldiers.
Western analysts said Moscow had likely reached out to open negotiations because it was trying to secure the release of Chechen fighters from the Akhmat special forces unit.
The Khorne Group of Ukraine’s 116th Mechanised Brigade shared video online of its troops rescuing injured Russian troops, which the unit said could be swapped for fighters from the Azov battalion still held by Moscow.
Many of the troops captured by Kyiv’s forces are young Russian conscripts, a particular sensitivity for Moscow as it seeks to swell its invasion forces.
While Mr Zelensky has not publicly praised the capture of the prisoners, he had said his soldiers are building an “exchange fund”.
Moscow was believed to have been holding about 6,500 Ukrainian troops compared to Ukraine’s 1,300 Russians before the Kursk operation.
Kyiv launched the ambitious incursion into Russia’s Kursk 10 days ago.
Its forces have continued to capture land defended by poorly trained conscripts trusted with guarding the frontier region.
Ukrainian troops were advancing between 500 metres and 1.5km each day in different directions, Gen Syrsk said.
One Ukrainian unit has brought British Challenger 2 tanks into the fight, a UK military source told The Telegraph, in what was the first time the vehicles have been involved in a combat mission on Russian soil.
Local authorities ordered the evacuation of 20,000 more civilians in Glushkov district of Kursk as Ukraine’s advances continued.
Local officials in Kursk’s neighbouring region of Belgorod also announced that additional resources would be freed up after a state of emergency was declared.
Iryna Vereshchuk, the deputy Ukrainian prime minister, said Kyiv was setting up a humanitarian corridor from Russia’s Kursk region to Ukraine’s neighbouring Sumy.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had engaged enemy forces in at least 15 different settlements as it sought to quash the invasion.
It has been hoped by Kyiv that its operation in Kursk would have stalled military pressure along the front lines in eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces have been relentlessly advancing towards Pokrovsk, a vital garrison city in the Donetsk region, in recent months.
On Thursday, the city’s military administrator ordered the evacuation of locals because Moscow’s troops were “just over 10 kilometres from the outskirts of the city”.
Gen Syrsky told Mr Zelensky that the situation was “difficult but under control”.
“The main efforts are focused on preventing the enemy from advancing in the directions of Toretsk and Pokrovsk, inflicting maximum losses, and creating favourable conditions for further actions,” he added.
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Russia’s defence minister has drawn up plans to protect three regions that border Ukraine: Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk. 
Ukraine launched its cross-border assault into Kursk 10 days ago and has increased military action in Belgorod, prompting a federal state of emergency in both regions. 
There is no such level of emergency in Bryansk, though Andrei Belousov, the defence minister, said he would “personally” oversee plans to protect the region. 
Mr Belousov said on Thursday this would include ensuring “territorial integrity and protection of the population and infrastructure”.
British Challenger 2 tanks have reportedly been used by Ukrainian troops inside Russia for the first time.
The Ministry of Defence and Ukraine’s armed forces have not commented on the use of the tanks, though UK government policy allows Kyiv’s forces to use British weapons, with the exception of Storm Shadow missiles, on Russian soil.
A video posted by a Russian Telegram account purports to show Vladimir Putin’s forces attacking a Challenger 2 inside Kursk. 
A source told Sky News that the British tanks have been used in Ukraine’s cross-border assault into Kursk, which was launched last week.
The 82nd Air Assault Brigade, which has been operating British tanks since last year, has been involved in the ongoing incursion.
Kyiv claims it is in control of more than 1,000 sq km of Russian territory, while Moscow’s forces have been seen digging trenches around 17km north of Ukraine’s furthest position in Kursk. 
Ukraine’s special forces captured 102 Russian soldiers in Kursk on Wednesday. 
A new pictured released by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) shows the captured soldiers, including some who are blindfolded, sitting in what appears to be a warehouse. 
Those captured include soldiers from the 488th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment and the Chechen “Akhmat” special forces unit, SBU sources said. 
This is reportedly despite holding ample supplies and ammunition.
Moscow has said it will send more troops to defend Belgorod as Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk continues. 
The situation in Belgorod, which borders Kursk, was upgraded to a federal-level emergency on Thursday due to an increase in Ukrainian military activity in the area. 
The Russian army has prepared “concrete actions” to defend the Belgorod region from Ukrainian attacks, minister Andrei Belousov said at a meeting with officials including Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. 
They include “the allocation of additional forces”.
This is the moment Ukrainian soldiers ambushed a truck filled with Russian troops in a deadly attack as part of their Kursk offensive. 
Ukrainian troops are filmed running through nearby woods at pace, firing through trees and launching hand grenades. 
A group of at least six soldiers attack the van, which is eventually destroyed by what appears to be a mini-rocket launcher. 
Ukraine’s troops have taken full control of the Russian town of Sudzha, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday,
Zelensky said Kyiv’s forecs had “reported on the completion of the liberation of the town of Sudzha from the Russian military”.
It is the largest town captured by the Ukrainian military so far and is located around five miles from the border. 
Moscow claimed earlier today that it was still fighting for control of the town. 
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President, initially supported a plan to sabotage the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022, according to a new report. 
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Ukraine’s top military commander at the time, Valery Zaluzhny, oversaw the plan to blow up the pipelines used by Russia to deliver gas to Europe. 
Zelensky initially gave the go-ahead to the plan until the CIA ordered him to stop it from going ahead. 
But is understood Mr Zaluzhny pushed ahead anyway and the execution team was unable to be recalled. 
A US-made Stryker has been destroyed in Kursk, a video released by Russia’s defence ministry shows.
The armoured vehicle was destroyed by the Russian army near Kauchuck, which is located around 30km north of Sudzha.
It is not clear when the footage was recorded. 
Ukrainian troops have been pictured waving from a Russian T-90M tank in the Sumy border region.
The tank has been marked with Ukraine’s ‘white triangle’, a symbol that has been daubed across Ukrainian weaponry since its invasion of Kursk last week. 
It also displays the word “Pirozhok” – which translates to meat pie in Ukrainian – written on the side.
Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, previously lauded the T-90M as the “best tank in the world”. 
It is not known when the tank was taken by Ukraine. 
The UN rights office said on Thursday that it has asked Moscow to allow it to visit the Russian regions affected by a cross-border attack by Ukrainian forces.
Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said they had requested permission to enter Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk regions to “further to our human rights monitoring and assessment mandate.”
The request was sent on Wednesday.
The office has already asked Russia on several occasions for access to both Russian territory and to Ukrainian territories under Russia’s control, to no avail, she said.
Britain’s Challenger 2 tank, now reportedly being used inside Russia by Ukraine, is considered a relatively mobile vehicle, despite being heavily armed and armoured. 
Having previously been used in conflicts in Iraq, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine was given 14 Challenger 2 tanks to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s invasion. 
Each tank, worth more than £4 million, has an operational range of 550km and can travel speeds of up to 59kmh.
Its accuracy has been praised by Ukrainian troops, with one soldier describing it as a “sniper rifle among tanks”.
In a video released by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence last year, the Ukrainian soldier said: “I’ll tell you that this tank is like a sniper rifle among tanks, among all tanks in general. 
“It undoubtedly set a world record when it hit a T-55 [main battle tank] from a distance of more than five kilometres.”
In 2021, the UK Ministry of Defence set about upgrading the long-standing tank, which will be known as the Challenger 3. This tank will be network-enabled and will have upgraded survivability and target acquisition capabilities. 
The Russian defence ministry said on Thursday that Russian forces have taken control of the village of Ivanivka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Their claim cannot be independently verified, however the frontline village is just nine miles from the Kyiv-held transport hub of Pokrovsk in east Ukraine, where fierce battles continue.
Ksenia Karelina, a Russian-American woman, has been jailed for 12 years for treason after donating to a Ukraine charity, Interfax news agency said.
The Los Angeles spa employee and ballet dancer pleaded guilty last week at her trial in the city of Yekaterinburg. 
The charge against her was based on a donation of just over $50 (£39) she made in February 2022 to a charity supporting Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defence has said there has been no change in government policy following reports that British Challenge 2 tanks were used inside Russia. 
“There has been no change in UK government policy, under Article 51 of the UN Charter Ukraine has a clear right of self-defence against Russia’s illegal attacks, that does not preclude operations inside Russia,” an MoD spokesperson said. 
“We make clear during the gifting process that equipment is to be used in line with international law.”
All British weapons supplied to Ukraine can be used on Russian soil except Storm Shadow cruise missiles, Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary, told The Times. 
Authorities in Russia’s Kursk border region have ordered the evacuation of 20,000 more civilians as Ukraine advances further into its territory. 
Alexei Smirnov, the governor of Kursk, said on Telegram on Thursday that police would coordinate the evacuation from the Glushkov district, which borders Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Kyiv said its cross-border assault, which was launched last week, advanced one to two kilometres into the Kursk region. Kyiv has claimed that it has control of more than 1,000 square kilometres.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, has praised his armed forces for creating a ‘buffer zone’ in Kursk. 
“The creation of a buffer zone in the Kursk region is a step to protect our border communities from daily hostile shelling,” President Zelesnky said. 
On Wednesday Kyiv announced plans to organise humanitarian assistance and evacuation corridors for civilians heading to either Russia or Ukraine.
Moscow has declared a federal-level emergency in the Belgorod region, local authorities said on Thursday. 
The region, which borders Kursk, initially declared its own state of emergency after Ukraine began bombarding it early on Wednesday. 
“The situation in the region remains complex and tense. As a result of terrorist attacks by Ukrainian armed groups in the Belgorod region, residential houses and infrastructure facilities have been damaged, there are dead and injured citizens,” Alexander Kurenkov, the regional governor, said on Thursday.
Ukraine has denied any involvement in the explosions which damaged the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and has pointed the figure at Russia instead. 
“Such an act can only be carried out with extensive technical and financial resources… And who possessed all this at the time of the bombing? Only Russia,” Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukrainian presidential adviser, said on Thursday. 
His comments come after German prosecutors issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday for a Ukrainian man over the 2022 sabotage.
Russian authorities have appealed for citizens to apply for jobs which involve digging trenches in Kursk. 
Avito, a Russian job site, posted the listings with a salary 150,000-371,000 rubles (around £1,300-£3,200). 
A second job listing details “round the clock” working involving “digging trenches” on the “second line of defence”.
“We provide: Three meals a day; All necessary tools; Work clothes; Transportation to the place of work at the expense of the company,” one advertisement read.
Satellite images show the devastating impact of Ukrainian drone strikes on an airfield in Russia. 
Four air bases were hit in a massive Ukrainian drone strike in the early hours of Wednesday morning, including the Borisoglebsk Air Base (pictured below). 
Ukrainian drones hit the northwestern part of the airfield, destroying several hangars in the process. 
Kamala Harris’s painfully obvious description of the war in Ukraine went viral after she was anointed Democratic presidential nominee when Joe Biden, the US president, dropped out last month, writes Tom Teodorczuk. 
Her defenders pointed out that she had been asked by The Morning Hustle radio show to “break [Ukraine] down in layman’s terms”, shortly after Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion in 2022.
But for the Democratic nominee’s detractors, Harris’s memorable description was indicative of her simplistic shortcomings surrounding the invasion, which have been exacerbated by what some perceive to be an uneasy personal relationship with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president.  
Read the full story here.
Moscow is “concerned” about Ukraine’s rapid advancements northwards into Kursk, military analysts have claimed. 
Analysis from the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank, suggests Russian troops are rapidly digging trenches 17km north of Ukraine’s highest position in Kursk. 
It added that Russian forces are “particularly concerned” about the region’s main highways and will be attempting to protect its primary lines of communication to stop further Ukrainian advances. 
4/ These new fortifications are about 17 kilometers north of the furthest claimed limit of Ukrainian advances in Kursk Oblast, which suggests that Russian forces are concerned about potential continued and rapid Ukrainian mechanized northward advances within Kursk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/mrHCiR0f5I
This is the moment an armed soldier is filmed pulling down a Russian flag three miles north of the Ukraine border in Kursk.
The video, which was reportedly captured in the Vnezapnoe area of the region, shows the soldier taking the flag from a canopy roof before throwing it onto the ground. 
Ukraine’s air force said on Thursday that it shot down 29 Russian drones that were launched over eight regions overnight.  
Russia also launched three Kh-59 guided missiles during the attack, the air force said in a statement, which officials said caused only minor damage.
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