War latest: Putin ally issues dire warning over Ukraine's invasion of Russia - as experts say move highlights Kremlin 'failure' (2024)

Footage has emerged of an armoured vehicle driving towards a Russian border checkpoint from the Ukrainian side and being fired on.

The Kolotilovka checkpoint in the Belgorod region is often used for prisoner exchanges.

The video shows a vehicle driving at full speed towards the checkpoint before appearing to hit a barrier and being shot at shortly after.

Ukraine has shown it is "capable of carrying the fight to the enemy" and the UK should be prepared to give Kyiv its "full support" as the invasion of Kursk continues, a former defence secretary has said.

Lord John Hutton, a Labour peer, said Ukraine's attacks were a "legitimate operation" and "largely defensive".

"I think we should be prepared to give it our full support because it is necessary for the defence of Ukraine," he told Sky News.

Asked what he thought Volodymyr Zelenskyy aim was with the offensive, Lord Hutton said it was "essentially a political mission to put pressure on Putin".

"He's demonstrated that Ukrainian armed forces are still in the fight, and they're capable of carrying the fight to the enemy, and I think it's delivered a much needed morale boost to the Ukrainian people themselves, who've been on the defensive for a long period of time," he said

"I hope that the mission achieves the long term purpose of getting closer to a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces from the territory of Ukraine," Lord Hutton added.

Washington is reluctant to let Kyiv's troops use long-range US weapons inside Kursk due to their short supply, according to a report.

Ukraine received several of the long-range ATACMS missiles earlier this year, and has used them to target sites deep inside Russia.

Officials told CNN that the US was hesitant over the use of the missiles in the Kursk invasion, not because of the risk of escalation, but due to their limited supply.

Despite Ukraine gaining ground in the Russian region, "multiple" US and Western officials warned that Kyiv was unlikely to be able to judge the territory for long, adding that it was too soon to say how the invasion will affect the overall outcome of the war.

Ukraine's surprise push into the Russian border region of Kursk has seen Kyiv's forces capture a series of villages, take hundreds of prisoners and force tens of thousands of residents to flee their homes.

Top Ukrainian commanderOleksandr Syrskyi told Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday that the invasion had so far advanced 35km (22 miles) into Kursk, with 82 settlements captured.

Ukrainian troops have been seen pictured operating in Sumy, a region in northeastern Ukraine which borders Russia.

Russia launched three missiles and five drones at Ukraine in its latest overnight attack, the Ukrainian military has said.

According to the country's air force, Russian forces targeted Ukraine from Kursk with ballistic missiles, two Shahed-type drones and two unspecified drones.

It said defence forces shot down the drones over five regions, but did not say what happened to the missiles.

A top aide to Vladimir Putin has accused NATO and the West of being directly involved in the planning for Ukraine's invasion in Kursk.

In an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestia,NikolaiPatrushev said Washington was lying when it said it had no prior knowledge of the attacks.

"The operation in the Kursk region was also planned with theparticipation of NATO and Western special services," he said.

"The statements by the US leadership that it was notinvolved in Kyiv's crimes in the Kursk region are not true...without their participation and direct support, Kyiv would nothave ventured into Russian territory."

He did not appear to provide any evidence for his claims.

The White House said Kyiv did not provide advance noticeof its operation and that Washington had no involvement.

The Kremlin and Vladimir Putin's top military brass have created a "complicated" and "ineffective" structure for Russia's response to the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk, military analysts have said.

Russian defence minister Andrei Belousov yesterday announced the creation of a "coordination council" for military and security issues in affected regions bordering Ukraine.

He said the council was aimed at improving support for Russian troops and will oversee the provision of military aid, while also assisting with evacuations and measures to protect residents.

Mr Belousov did not say how it would interact with an existing command structure established by the Kremlin when it called on the Russian security service (FSB) to conduct a counterterrorism operation in Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk.

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War say the two operations "will likely generate continued confusion" about who is responseible for what aspect of the response to the Kursk invasion and could "lead to friction between the FSB and the Russian military".

It added that the delayed establishment of a "complicated" structure "continues to highlight the fact that the Kremlin failed to plan for the possibility of a significant Ukrainian incursion into Russia".

"The Ukrainian incursion into Kursk will likely expand the Kremlin's consideration for what type of Ukrainian operations are possible along the border and highlight that Putin and the Kremlin have suffered from a strategic failure of imagination," the think tank said.

The Ukrainian invasion inside Russia has brought the world close to a "third world war", Russian media has cited an MP in the country as saying.

Ukrainian forces broke through the border into Kursk last Tuesday and have since made significant advances, forcing Russia to evacuate more than 200,000 people.

State news agency RIA quoted parliamentary deputy Mikail Sheremet - an ally of Vladimir Putin - as saying: "Considering the presence of Western military equipment, theuse of Western ammunition and missiles in attacks on civilianinfrastructure and irrefutable proof of foreigners'participation in the attack on Russian territory, one could cometo the conclusion that the world is on the brink of a thirdworld war."

He also said NATO members had given their prior approval of the Ukrainian invasion - a claim Washington has denied.

Welcome back to our live coverage on the war in Ukraine.

Yesterday marked a big day for Kyiv's forces, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy announcing his troops had captured the largest Russian town so far - Sudzha in the Kursk region.

Footage filmed in the Sumy region of Ukraine, which is close to the border with Kursk, showed Ukrainian soldiers returning from combat with a captured Russian tank.

They also appeared to have taken a sign from a village in the Kursk region as a trophy that read "Lubimovka."

It came after Sky News revealed British Challenger 2 tanks had been used by Ukraine during their offensive inside Russia.

We'll be bringing you the latest updates on the situation throughout the day but before we do, here's a recap of the other key events from the last 24 hours:

• Key Putin ally, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, called on Ukraine and Russia to end their conflict to avoid the war spilling into his country;
• The Russian defence ministry said it was bringing in measures to protect its Belgorod border region from Ukrainian attack;
• Satellite images obtained by Sky News showed a sudden build-up of helicopters at Kursk Airport's military airstrip;
• Thousands more residents were evacuated from a district in Kursk as Ukrainian troops continued to advance in the region.

That's all our coverage on the war in Ukraine for now - we'll be back tomorrow with all the latest updates.

Before we go, here's a recap of today's main events:

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv's troops had captured the Russian town of Sudzha in the Kursk region;
• Sky News revealed Ukrainian troops had used British Challenger 2 tanks in their offensive inside Russia - you can read more about thathere;
• Key Putin ally, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, called on Ukraine and Russia to end their conflict to avoid the war spilling over into his country;
• The Russian defence ministry said it was bringing in measures to protect its Belgorod border region from Ukrainian attack;
• Satellite images obtained by Sky News showed a sudden build-up of helicopters at Kursk Airport's military airstrip.