Summary of the day
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said his country’s forces are continuing to advance into Russian territory following their surprise offensive, as a Kyiv said it had launched a “major” drone attack on four Russian airbases.
The Ukrainian president said “we are advancing in the Kursk region, one to two kilometres in various areas since the beginning of the day. We have captured more than 100 Russian servicemen during this period.”
The deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said Kyiv is creating a “security zone” in the Kursk region and plans to organise humanitarian assistance and evacuation corridors for civilians.
Ukraine carried out its largest drone attack yet on four Russian military airfields.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, declared a state of emergency.
The Russian foreign ministry’s special envoy, Rodion Miroshnik, said Ukraine has put the issue of peace talks with Russia “on a long pause” by attacking the Kursk region.
A German military base was sealed off as authorities investigate suspected sabotage.
German media reported that prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man over the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, has met with James O’Brien, the US assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs.
Footage filmed by a Ukrainian TV station showed the moment forces pulled down a Russian flag from a building in the town of Sudzha, in the Kursk region.
