Ukraine conflict dwell: Russian operation in Kursk is in ultimate stage, Kremlin claims, as US negotiators head to Moscow

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, studies that Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, and partially occupied Zaporizhzhia had been the Ukrainian areas that suffered in a single day Russian assaults. Ukraine’s navy has claimed it shot down 74 of 117 drones in a single day, and that Russia additionally launched an Iskander-M missile.

Russian media studies that Alexander Lukashenko, the chief of Belarus, has arrived in Moscow.

Russia’s Federal Safety Service (FSB) claims that it has prevented a collection of assaults towards navy and civil servants, the Interfax information company studies. This might not be independently verified by the Guardian.

Based on the FSB, “Ukrainian special services” deliberate to ship explosive gadgets in parcels by mail.

Russia downed 77 Ukrainian drones in a single day, its defence ministry mentioned Thursday, two days after Kyiv carried out its largest direct strike on Moscow in the course of the three-year conflict.

Thirty drones had been intercepted and destroyed over the western Bryansk area bordering Ukraine whereas 25 extra had been downed over Kaluga, the ministry mentioned in an announcement.

Extra drones had been intercepted over the areas of Kursk, Voronezh, Rostov and Belgorod, it added.

The most recent barrage comes after Russia downed greater than 90 drones within the capital area on Tuesday. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin referred to as it the “most massive enemy drone attack on Moscow”.

Russia mentioned three folks died and several other extra had been injured in Tuesday’s assault, which noticed it intercept 337 Ukrainian drones throughout the nation.

A number of Ukrainian cities had been additionally underneath assault Thursday morning, with a 42-year-old girl killed in Kherson, in accordance with regional navy administration head Roman Mrochko.

Authorities in Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk additionally reported coming underneath assault early Thursday.

Extra now on the most recent from Kursk.

Some background: Ukrainian forces crossed the Russian border on 6 August and grabbed land inside Russia in a bid to distract Moscow’s forces from the frontlines in japanese Ukraine and to achieve a possible bargaining chip.

However a lightning Russian advance over the previous few days has left Ukraine with a sliver of lower than 200 sq. km (77 sq. miles) in Kursk, down from 1,300 sq. km (500 sq. miles) on the peak of the incursion final summer time, in accordance with the Russian navy.

“Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible timeframe, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region,” Putin informed generals in remarks televised late on Wednesday.

“And of course, we need to think about creating a security zone along the state border.”

Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia’s Normal Workers, informed Putin that Russian forces had pushed Ukrainian forces out of over 86% of the territory they’d as soon as held in Kursk, the equal to 1,100 sq. km (425 sq. miles) of land, Reuters studies.

Gerasimov mentioned Ukraine’s plans to make use of Kursk as a bargaining chip in attainable future negotiations with Russia had failed and its gambit that its Kursk operation would power Russia to divert troops from its advance in japanese Ukraine had additionally not labored.

He mentioned Russian forces had retaken 24 settlements and 259 sq. km (100 sq. miles) of land from Ukrainian forces within the final 5 days together with over 400 prisoners.

Russia’s operation to eject Ukrainian forces from Kursk has entered its ultimate stage, state information company TASS reported on Thursday citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Ukraine’s high military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, mentioned on Wednesday that Kyiv’s troops will preserve working in Kursk so long as wanted and that preventing continued in and across the city of Sudzha.

The US on Tuesday agreed to renew weapons provides and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Kyiv mentioned at talks in Saudi Arabia that it was able to assist a ceasefire proposal.

The Kremlin on Wednesday mentioned it was fastidiously finding out the outcomes of that assembly and awaited particulars from the US.

International ministers of main western democracies will meet in Canada on Thursday after seven weeks of rising tensions between Trump and US allies over his upending of overseas coverage on Ukraine and imposing of tariffs.

The Group of Seven ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US, together with the EU, meet within the distant vacationer city of La Malbaie, nestled within the Quebec hills for 2 days of conferences that previously have broadly been consensual on the problems they face.

Prime of the agenda for Washington’s companions might be getting a debriefing on US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s talks on Tuesday with Kyiv in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the place Ukraine mentioned it was able to assist a 30-day ceasefire deal.

However within the run-up to the primary G7 assembly of Canada’s presidency, the crafting of an agreed all-encompassing ultimate assertion has been powerful, Reuters studies:

A US choice to impose 25% tariffs on all metal and aluminium imports instantly drew reciprocal measures from Canada and the EU, underscoring the tensions.

Washington has sought to impose purple strains on language round Ukraine and opposed a separate declaration on curbing Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, a murky delivery community that eludes sanctions, whereas demanding extra sturdy language on China.

On Monday, Rubio cautioned that Washington didn’t need language that might hurt efforts to convey Russia and Ukraine to the desk. Talking to reporters on Wednesday he mentioned a superb G7 assertion would recognise that the US has moved the method to finish the conflict ahead.

G7 diplomats mentioned the constructive end result from Jeddah might at the very least ease talks on Ukraine.

The US, since Trump’s return to workplace on 20 January, has taken a less-friendly stance on Ukraine, pushing for a fast deal to finish the conflict, demanded European companions tackle extra of the burden with out brazenly endorsing their function in future talks, and warmed Washington’s ties with Moscow.

Poland’s president has referred to as on the US to switch nuclear weapons to its territory as a deterrent towards future Russian aggression, a proposal he mentioned he just lately mentioned with Trump’s particular envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg, the Monetary Occasions reported on Thursday.

“The borders of Nato moved east in 1999, so 26 years later there should also be a shift of the Nato infrastructure east. For me this is obvious,” the FT cited Andrzej Duda as saying in an interview.

It could be safer if these weapons had been already within the nation, Duda mentioned.

A number of Ukrainian cities had been additionally underneath assault Thursday morning, with a 42-year-old girl killed in Kherson, in accordance with regional navy administration head Roman Mrochko.

Authorities in Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk additionally reported coming underneath assault.

Russia’s operation to eject Ukrainian forces from the western Russian area of Kursk has entered its ultimate stage, state information company Tass reported on Thursday, citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Russian president Vladimir Putin on Wednesday visited Kursk for the primary time since Ukrainian forces seized some territory within the area.

The information comes as US president Donald Trump mentioned on Wednesday that negotiators had been headed to Russia “right now” for talks on a attainable ceasefire with Ukraine, after Kyiv agreed to a 30-day truce.

Trump didn’t give additional particulars, however the White Home later mentioned that his particular envoy Steve Witkoff was going to Moscow later this week.

Trump wouldn’t say when he would subsequent converse to Putin, however added that “I hope he’s going to have a ceasefire.” “It’s up to Russia now,” mentioned the US president.

Ukraine is more and more struggling on the battlefield, dropping floor within the east and south of the nation, the place officers mentioned eight folks had been killed on Wednesday.

Russia has additionally reclaimed territory in its western Kursk area, pushing again Ukrainian troops who staged a shock offensive final August.

Putin was proven on Russian tv visiting troops in Kursk on Wednesday.

“I am counting on the fact that all the combat tasks facing our units will be fulfilled, and the territory of the Kursk region will soon be completely liberated from the enemy,” Putin mentioned.

Russian chief of workers Gen Valery Gerasimov mentioned that 430 Ukrainian troops had been captured and Putin referred to as them “terrorists.”

Ukraine navy commander-in-chief Gen Oleksandr Syrsky indicated that some forces in Kursk had been pulling again to “more favorable positions.”

Russia’s operation to eject Ukrainian forces from the western Russian area of Kursk has entered its ultimate stage, state information company Tass reported on Thursday, citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Russian president Vladimir Putin on Wednesday visited Kursk for the primary time since Ukrainian forces seized some territory within the area.

The information comes as US president Donald Trump mentioned on Wednesday that negotiators had been headed to Russia “right now” for talks on a attainable ceasefire with Ukraine, after Kyiv agreed to a 30-day truce.

Trump didn’t give additional particulars, however the White Home later mentioned that his particular envoy Steve Witkoff was going to Moscow later this week.

Trump wouldn’t say when he would subsequent converse to Putin, however added that “I hope he’s going to have a ceasefire.” “It’s up to Russia now,” mentioned the US president.

Listed here are the opposite key latest developments:

• Ukraine’s military commander-in-chief, Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, steered his troops had been pulling again to minimise losses in Kursk. “In the most difficult situation, my priority has been and remains saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. To this end, the units of the defence forces, if necessary, manoeuvre to more favourable positions,” Syrski posted on-line, in phrases sometimes used to explain a withdrawal.

• Syrskyi mentioned the Russian navy was struggling enormous personnel and tools losses whereas attempting to realize “political gains” by trying to oust Ukrainian troops. Sudzha is the biggest settlement that Ukraine seized in Kursk, and the Ukraine-based Deep State open-source mapping challenge confirmed earlier on Wednesday that Kyiv was now not in full management of it. “The enemy is using assault units of airborne troops and special operations forces to break through our defences, oust our troops out of the Kursk region and move fighting to the territory of Sumy and Kharkiv regions,” Syrskyi mentioned.

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned that Kyiv was doing “as much as possible” to guard its troopers. “The Russians are clearly trying to put maximum pressure on our troops, and our military command is doing what it has to do,” the Ukrainian president informed a press convention in Kyiv. “We are preserving the lives of our soldiers as much as possible.”

• Donald Trump steered he may goal Russia financially as Ukraine’s president urged him to take robust steps if Moscow did not assist a 30-day ceasefire agreed between Ukrainian and US delegations assembly in Saudi Arabia. Washington, Kyiv and Europe are ready for Moscow’s response to the proposal, and US envoys are anticipated to carry talks with Putin by the tip of the week. The Kremlin has not publicly mentioned whether or not or not it helps a right away ceasefire. If Putin refuses, Trump mentioned he may “do things financially that would be very bad for Russia”.

• Zelenskyy mentioned he anticipated robust measures from the Washington if Russia rejected the ceasefire proposal. “I understand that we can count on strong steps. I don’t know the details yet but we are talking about sanctions [against Russia] and strengthening Ukraine.”

• The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, mentioned Washington needed Moscow’s settlement with no strings hooked up. “That’s what we want to know – if they’re prepared to do it unconditionally,” Rubio mentioned on a airplane heading to a G7 assembly in Canada. “If the response is yes, then we know we’ve made real progress, and there’s a real chance of peace. If their response is no, it would be highly unfortunate, and it’ll make their intentions clear.”

• The US threats got here because the French defence minister, Sébastien Lecornu, informed a press convention in Paris {that a} ceasefire announcement may come as quickly as Thursday and that Europe must be ready to assist implement it. Defence ministers from Europe’s 5 main navy powers – the UK, Germany, Italy, Poland and France – met within the French capital on Wednesday to debate the formation of a “reassurance force” that may assure peace in Ukraine if a settlement was agreed. Lecornu mentioned they had been “hoping to see a ceasefire tomorrow” and that 15 nations had been keen to contribute to a power of as much as 30,000 personnel that may completely safe Ukraine’s airports, ports and infrastructure.