Ukraine war briefing: ‘Russia does not control Kursk border’

Russia’s defence ministry said about 300 soldiers from Ukraine backed by tanks and armoured vehicles launched a cross-border attack into the Kursk region on Tuesday, while fighting was reported as deep as six miles (10km) inside Russia, Dan Sabbagh writes. Fighting took place between the border villages of Nikolayevo-Daryino and Oleshnya, and as far inside Russia as the fringes of Sudzha. Two strikes on Russian trailers loaded with tanks were photographed from overhead, according to reports on social media which the Guardian could not verify.

Ukraine’s political leaders and defence ministry did not immediately comment on the situation, but one junior official acknowledged the attack was taking place and indicated it had not been defeated. Andrii Kovalenko from Ukraine’s national security and defence council said: “Russian soldiers are lying about the controllability of the situation in the Kursk region. Russia does not control the border.” There have been previous raids into Russia by pro-Ukrainian groups of Russians such as the Russian Volunteer Corps and Freedom of Russia Legion.

Ukraine is putting more funding towards its domestic missile programme, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president, said on Tuesday. Ukraine needs to compensate for western allies not letting it use the missiles they supply for long-range strikes on bases inside Russian territory. Ukraine is trying to build up its domestic output of, for example, the Neptune, a Ukrainian anti-ship missile that can also attack land targets.

At least one person was killed and 12 others including an eight-month-old baby were injured when a Russian Iskander ballistic missile struck a residential area of Kharkiv in north-east Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said. A medical clinic was among many buildings damaged, said the regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov.

Maria Andreyeva, a leading Russian anti-mobilisation activist, has said she quit her campaigning after coming under pressure from the Kremlin. Putin’s regime has clamped down on a group of wives and mothers known as “Put Domoy” (Way Home) publicly calling on the Russian president to bring forcibly mobilised men back from the frontlines in Ukraine. Andreyeva said she had been fired from her work and labelled a “foreign agent”. “Unfortunately I have to go into the shadows,” Andreyeva told Agence France-Presse.

In Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russian forces have advanced near Toretsk: in Pivnichne to its east, and to its south in Niu York where they raised a flag on a building, said the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). In an unconfirmed development, Russia’s defence ministry said its units had “liberated the settlement of Timofeevka”, whose Ukrainian name is Timofiyivka, as the head of Russia’s general staff, Valery Gerasimov, reportedly visited troop positions in occupied parts of Donetsk.

The ISW said Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s security council secretary and former defence minister, had “heavily overexaggerated” Russian advances in Ukraine since mid-June 2024, claiming 420 sq km. “ISW has observed evidence confirming that Russian forces have seized approximately 290 square kilometres since June 14.” said the US-based thinktank.

Niger’s military regime has cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine over remarks from officials it said showed Ukraine’s support for groups involved in fighting in neighbouring Mali that killed dozens of soldiers and Russian Wagner fighters. Mali on Sunday severed relations with Ukraine after comments from the Ukrainian military spy agency suggested its involvement.