Closing summary
We will be closing this blog soon, but you can stay up to date on the Guardian’s Russia-Ukraine war coverage here.
Here is a summary of today’s developments:
Russia’s military said on Tuesday its forces had thwarted attempted Ukrainian attacks on four settlements in its western Kursk region and taken control of what it described as the strategic logistics hub of Niu-York in eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces also said they had captured the key hub of New York (also referred to as Niu-York) in eastern Ukraine, as Moscow – under pressure by a Kyiv counterattack on its territory – presses on with its offensive. The defence ministry said its troops had captured “one of the largest settlements of the Toretsk agglomeration and the strategically important logistics hub (of) Novgorodskoye”, referring to the town in Ukraine’s Donetsk region by its former name.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the situation on Ukraine’s eastern frontline, near the strategic logistics hub of Pokrovsk, and also close to Toretsk, was “difficult”. Ukraine’s General Staff said on Facebook that 14 combat clashes had been reported in the Toretsk area and 34 in the Pokrovsk sector since the start of the day.
Over 122,000 Russians have fled the border regions amid Ukraine’s Kursk invasion, according to Russian media. Residents have left their homes in huge numbers following Kyiv’s surprise counter-punch, TASS said, citing the Russian Emergencies Ministry.
Russia said it summoned a senior U.S. diplomat to protest over what it called the “provocative actions” of American journalists in Russia’s Kursk region. Moscow appeared to be referring to reporting by the Washington Post and CNN from Sudzha, a Russian border town currently under Kyiv’s control. The foreign ministry said it had protested over the actions of American reporters who had “illegally entered the Kursk region for propaganda coverage of the Kyiv regime’s crimes”. It did not name the reporters or their media outlets.
Russia’s FSB Security Service detained a scientist in Moscow on suspicion of state treason, Interfax news agency reported. The scientist allegedly carried out distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on critical infrastructure on behalf of Ukrainian security services, it quoted the FSB as saying.
Civilians with small children in their arms and lugging heavy suitcases have fled from Ukraine’s eastern city of Pokrovsk, where the Russian army was bearing down fast despite a lightning Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. Local authorities said Russian forces were advancing so quickly that families were under orders to leave the city and other nearby towns and villages starting Tuesday.
Ukraine’s parliament passed a ‘historic’ bill which paves the way for a ban of the Russia-linked minority Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The legislation prohibits the Russian Orthodox Church on Ukrainian territory and envisages a ban, to be approved by a court decision, on religious organisations “affiliated” with it.
Russian authorities struggled to put out a massive fire in the southern Rostov region for a third consecutive day after an oil depot was hit by Ukrainian drones as Ukrainian forces pushed further into Russia’s Kursk region.
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The Czech Republic announced it will use part of the interest generated from Russian central bank assets frozen in the European Union to buy large-calibre ammunition for Ukraine. Western countries blocked about $300bn worth of sovereign Russian assets after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. EU countries are taking the interest earned on the assets – which include bonds and other securities bought by the Russian central bank – and putting it into an EU fund to aid Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion.
The Kremlin called the plan to use interest earned on frozen Russian assets to fund military aid to Ukraine “theft” and said it would take legal action against anyone involved in the decision.
Russia launched its fifth missile attack on Kyiv this month overnight. Air defence systems successfully repelled the strike, the Ukrainian military said. Elsewhere in Ukraine, air defence systems shot down three ballistic missiles and 25 of the 26 drones launched in the attack on nine regions.
People were urged to stay inside their homes in Ukraine’s Ternopil after a large fire broke out overnight during air raid alerts. Russian forces hit an industrial facility during the attack, Ukrainska Pravda reported, adding that a tank containing fuel and chemicals was struck around 3am local time.
Russia says it thwarts attacks in Kursk region, advances in east Ukraine
Russia’s military said on Tuesday its forces had thwarted attempted Ukrainian attacks on four settlements in its western Kursk region and taken control of what it described as the strategic logistics hub of New-York (also referred to as Niu-York) in eastern Ukraine.
“Reconnaissance and search operations continue to identify and destroy enemy sabotage groups in clumps of forest that were trying to penetrate deep into Russian territory,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
Russian warplanes had also struck concentrations of Ukrainian manpower and hardware on the Ukrainian side of the border, it said.
It said the attempted Ukrainian assaults inside Kursk were near the settlements of Borki, Korenevo, Kremyanoye and Russkaya Kanapelka. The Guardian could not independently verify battlefield reports.
The capture of New-York, if confirmed by Ukraine, would mark another advance in Moscow’s grinding drive to capture the entire Donetsk region even as it fights to end the two-week-old Ukrainian incursion in the Kursk region.
There was no immediate confirmation by Ukraine that Niu-York was in Russian hands. Ukraine’s General Staff acknowledged Russian troops were attacking near Niu-York but said Ukrainian forces were giving them “a worthy rebuff”.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said separately that the situation was “difficult” on Ukraine’s eastern frontline, near the strategic logistics hub of Pokrovsk and also close to the city of Toretsk.
Ukraine’s General Staff said on Facebook that 14 combat clashes had been reported in the Toretsk area and 34 in the Pokrovsk sector since the start of the day.
Ukrainian officials said Russia had also hit energy infrastructure in northern Ukraine in an overnight missile and drone attack and caused a huge fire in the west of the country, resulting in an increase in chlorine levels in the air.
Updated
