Ukraine-Russia war latest: Ukraine 'takes 100 prisoners of war' inside captured region - and 'launches major attack on Russian airfields' (2024)

A Russian official has accused the West of being involved in Ukraine's invasion of the Kursk region.

Member of the State Duma Maria Butina told Reuters: "Of course they are involved.

"When I studied in the United States the main rule was: 'Don't poke the bear'. What the West is doing today? They are poking the bear."

What has the West said?

The US and other Western backers of Ukraine have denied that they were informed beforehand of the attack on Russia's Kursk region.

Yesterday, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the US had no advance notice from Ukraine that it planned military action.

Russia is using conscripts with "no experience" to defend land in the border region of Kursk, the Moscow Times reports.

Following Ukraine's invasion of the Russian region, reports have emerged of conscripts being drawn into combat.

And at least 52 families contacted Russia's defence ministry after losing contact with their sons, the independent newspaper reports.

Families have also begun a petition asking the Kremlin to remove soldiers from the Kursk region.

The petition seen by the Moscow Times reads: "We are the mothers of conscripts, and we ask you to withdraw conscripts from combat zones. They have no experience in military engagements and lack weapons."

It is not clear how many conscripts are fighting in the Kursk region.

How does conscription work in Russia?

All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service, or equivalent training during higher education, from the age of 18.

But compulsory military service has long been a sensitive issue in Russia, where many men go to great lengths to avoid it.

Under Russian law, a conscript can be sent into combat just four months after being drafted.

This year, Russia's lower house of parliament voted to raise the maximum age at which men can be conscripted to 30 from 27.

Conscripts cannot legally be deployed to fight outside Russia.

Satellite images reveal a trench several miles long has been dug in Russia's Kursk border region.

The images from Planet Labs show the trench cutting across several fields in Lgov, which lies a significant distance from the Russian border.

Ukrainian forces have been trying to expand their controlnear the Russian town after last week's surprise offensive.

Two more of Ukraine's allies have shown their support as the country continues its invasion in Kursk.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said Ukraine "has the right to self-defence", adding it was clear that they can carry their operation in Kursk.

He was speaking during a joint news conference in Helsinki with his Estonian counterpart Kristen Michal.

Mr Michal said: "We fully support Ukraine in its different operations and personally I wish them luck."

Earlier, we reported comments from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk that Ukraine's actions in Russia were "defensive" (see 9.23 post).

A Ukrainian solider has told our security and defence editor Deborah Haynes he hopes the invasion inside Russia will show its people the reality of war.

Speaking in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine, which sits on the Russian border, the serviceman said being part of the force that invaded Russia was "nothing special… I'm doing my job".

Without giving much away, he said his unit was involved in monitoring and surveillance.

But the soldier did share his hope of one aim of the incursion.

"Maybe they [the Russians] will understand [it's] not very an interesting thing when sit at home and watch tv - war is war."

We'll have more to bring you from Deborah's report a little later.

Ukraine has carried out its largest drone attack yet on four Russian military airfields, a Ukrainian security source has told the Reuters news agency.

According to the source, the attack was aimed at undermining Russia's ability to use warplanes to target Ukraine with gliding bombs.

Sky News has been unable to independently verify the claim.

Ukraine's top commander says 100 Russian prisoners of war have been captured in Kursk.

Oleksandr Syrskyiwas shown giving the update to Volodymyr Zelenskyy via video link in footage posted to the Ukrainian president's social media channels.

Mr Zelenskyy says Kyiv's forces were continuing to advance in the border region and had moved forward by one to two kilometres in different directions since the start of the day.

The capture of servicemen in Russia will "accelerate the return of our guys and girls home", he said.

Ukraine's military claims to have destroyed a Russian fighter jet over Kursk.

The General Staff said the Su-34 aircraft, worth around $30m, was destroyed during a combat mission in the Russian border region overnight.

"Work to eliminate the occupiers, their equipment andweapons continues on an ongoing basis," it said.

Sky News cannot independently verify the claim.

Moscow is pulling some of its troops from Ukraine in response to the attacks on its territory, according to US officials who have spoken to the Wall Street Journal.

The officials said it was unclear how many troops were being withdrawn and Washington was still trying to understand the significance of the move.

Russia still appears to be struggling torepel the Ukrainian invasion more than a week after it began.

Moscow claimed it had begun to thwart the offensive into its Kursk region - but the governor of neighbouring Belgorod declared a regional emergency in the early hours of this morning, citing continued Ukrainian attacks.

Germany has issued a European arrest warrant for the arrest of a Ukrainian diving instructor who was allegedly part of a team that blew up Nord Stream gas pipelines.

Poland's national public prosecutor's office confirmed it had received a request from Berlin to arrest the suspect, who was last known to have lived in the country.

However, the Polish prosecution said he was not arrested as he left for Ukraine early last month.

Another man and a woman - also Ukrainian diving instructors - have been identified in the investigation but so far no arrest warrants have been issued for them, according to German media outlets SZ, Zeit and ARD.

The German prosecutor general's office declined to comment on the reports when approached by Reuters news agency.

Almost two years on, it remains a mystery who was behind the explosions that destroyed three out of four pipelines that carries billions of cubic feet of gas to Europe under the Baltic Sea.

Russia and the West both accused each other of being behind the blasts, which was denied by either side. No one has ever taken responsibility.