Ukraine’s Kursk raid gives Putin taste of his own medicine, says Zelensky- live

President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested his country’s surprise attack into Russia’s Kursk was carried out to remind Vladimir Putin that there are consequences for his decision to invade Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky praised the Ukrainian army for its ability “to surprise” and achieve results, making no direct reference to the situation in the Russian border region.

“Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done”, Mr Zelensky said. “Ukrainians know how to achieve their goals. And we did not choose to achieve our goals in the war,” he added.

In his address, at an event to unveil a new digital app to cut paperwork for the military, he said: “Everyone can see that the Ukrainian army knows how to surprise. And knows how to achieve results.

“This is demonstrated by the battlefield, where our soldiers not only withstood the overwhelming force of the occupiers, but also are destroying it in the way necessary to protect Ukraine – our state and independence”, he said.

Russia has claimed that at least 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers entered into its territory in Kursk, pulling off Ukraine’s largest and most audacious assault on Russian soil yet.

The Ukrainian military has not spoken about the attack in public statements, appearing to have adopted a strategy of strict silence for now on activity in Russian territory.

Six people were injured and many evacuated from four villages after a Ukrainian drone attack caused explosions in Russia’s western region of Lipetsk, regional governor Igor Artamonov said.

Mr Artamonov said a “massive attack” by Ukrainian drones caused explosions and disrupted the power supply.

Four villages, some of them situated near an air force base, were being evacuated after a state of emergency was declared in the Lipetsk municipal district, Mr Artamonov said on the Telegram messaging app.

A fire had broken out at the air base outside Lipetsk city, the Interfax news agency reported, citing local emergency officials.

Russia’s defence ministry said a total of 75 Ukrainian drones have been destroyed overnight over Russia, according to the RIA news agency, most of them over the Belgorod and Lipetsk regions.

Ukrainian authorities have not reported any strikes in the Lipetsk region.

Kyiv’s audacious cross-border assault into Russia‘s Kursk region has certainly ruffled feathers in Moscow. Vladimir Putindenounced it as a “large-scale provocation” while his officials have lined up to tell him the situation is under control – despite fighting continuing into a third day on Thursday and thousands of people having to evacuate the area.

Ukraine has an issue with the number of soldiers it can put on the battlefield and has been trying to up recruitment, so some may ask why it would commit resources to an incursion into Russia, especially when Moscow’s forces are putting Kyiv’s troops under pressure on other points of the 600-mile frontline, including around the key eastern town of Pokrovsk, several hundred miles away in the region of Donetsk.

However, while the operation into Kursk is unlikely to create a long-term strategic opportunity for Kyiv, given that troops will be unable to hold any gained land for long, there are plenty of more symbolic reasons for bursting through the border. The two major reasons are morale and making both Moscow and Western allies think.

Some Russian bloggers said Ukraine‘s forces were pushing towards the Kursk nuclear power station, which lies about 60 km (37 miles) northeast of Sudzha.

Yuri Podolyaka, a popular Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, said that there were intense battles about 30 km from the Soviet-era nuclear plant, which supplies a large swathe of southern Russia with power.

Russian prosecutors on Thursday demanded a 15-year sentence for Ksenia Karelina, a Russian-American woman accused of treason for making a donation to a charity supporting Ukraine.

Karelina, who was not included in a major prisoner swap between Russia and the West last week, is on trial in the city of Yekaterinburg, where prosecutors and defence lawyers were summing up their cases.

The verdict, which had been expected on Thursday, is now due on Aug. 15, a Reuters reporter at the court said.

Karelina was born in Russia but emigrated to the United States in 2012 and became a U.S. citizen in 2021.

The Los Angeles spa employee was arrested by the FSB security service after flying to Russia to visit her family in Yekaterinburg at the start of the year.

Investigators brought the treason charge after discovering on her mobile phone that she had donated $51.80 to Razom, a charity that provides aid to Ukraine, when Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022. The FSB alleged that the ultimate beneficiary was the Ukrainian army.

Razom said at the time of her arrest that it was “appalled”. The charity’s website says it supports a range of humanitarian projects including the supply of first aid kits, wood stoves, generators, radios and vehicles to frontline Ukrainian medics.

It also helps Ukrainian children and vulnerable communities affected by the war, including by providing food, shelter, psychological support and clean water.

Ukraine could replace soldiers with robot dogs on its front lines for risky missions like spying on Russian trenches or detecting mines.

Not just used for treacherous missions, the hounds can also carry just over a stone of ammunition or medicines to hot spots on the battlefield.

At a demonstration in an undisclosed part of Ukraine, the metallic dog known as model “BAD One” stood up, crouched, ran and jumped according to commands transmitted by its operator, Agence France Press has reported.

“We have surveillance soldiers who get sent on reconnaissance missions (who) are most of the time very highly trained people, very experienced people (and) always exposed to risks,” said the operator who went by the name Yuri as he demonstrated to AFP journalists.