Ukraine-Russia war latest: Ukraine launches ‘attack of astonishment’ as troops ‘enter another Russian region’ after Kursk invasion

Ukraine’s invasion of Russia’s Kursk region was a moment that caught Moscow and the world by surprise. 

It was the largest incursion into Russian territory since the start of the war. 

While Ukrainian officials have remained tight-lipped over the details of the operation, we have seen Russia evacuating other areas near the border. 

Here’s a timeline of what has happened in the invasion so far: 

Ukrainian units launched the surprise operation in the Kursk border region on Tuesday 6 August.

By Wednesday 7 August, Ukrainian forces had advanced as much as 10km inside the Russian territory.

The US-based thinktank, the Institute for the Study of War, geolocated footage of Ukrainian forces in several locations and verified images showing Russian prisoners of war being taken at border checkpoints.

Ukrainian forces continued their advance on Thursday 8 August. 

By Friday 9 August, a video emerged appearing to show Ukrainian soldiers in control of a local gas facility in the town of Sudzha.

Ukraine continued to expand their presence on Saturday 10 August. 

Now six days into the invasion, this latest map shows that Ukrainian forces are largely holding their position, while the Russian military has evacuated 76,000 people from the area.

Ukrainian media outlets have also started reporting that Ukrainian forces appear to have entered Kursk’s neighbouring region of Belgorod, with a video showing them in the Russian village of Poroz.

Sky News has not been able to independently verify this.

Meanwhile, the Russian government has imposed a “counter-terror” operation in the three border regions of Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk.

This allows authorities to relocate residents, confiscate vehicles and control phone communications.