Ukraine-Russia war latest: Ukrainian troops 'still advancing in Russian region' - as Putin looks to 'shift responsibility' (2024)

A week after Ukraine invaded the Kursk regionof western Russia- when around 1,000 troops surprised analysts by storming across the border- Russia's President Vladimir Putin vowed to "kick the enemy out of our territory".

But has the success of Ukraine’s incursion threatened his grip on power?

On the Sky News Daily, Niall Patersonis joined by our security and defenceanalyst Michael Clarketo explore the reasoning behind the timing of the invasion,and Peter Dickinson, editor of theUkraineAlertblog for the Atlantic Council based in Kyiv, explains how the invasion has exposed the weakness of Putin’s "red lines".

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been pictured waving at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as the two leaders said goodbye following a meeting outside Moscow.

During their talks, the Kremlin leader expressed sorrow over the number of Palestinians killed in Israel's 10-month offensive in Gaza, which according to Hamas-run health authorities is nearing 40,000.

Israel has been at war with Hamas, who are in charge of the besieged enclave, since the militant group carried out their 7 October attack which saw 1,200 people killed in southern Israel and another 250 taken hostage.

Mr Putin didn't outright acknowledge Ukraine's recent invasion of Russia's Kursk region while talking to Mr Abbas.

But he said: "Everyone is well aware that Russia today, unfortunately,must defend its interests and defend its people with arms inhand.

"But what is happening in the Middle East, what ishappening in Palestine, of course, does not go unnoticed on ourpart.

"And of course, we are watching with great pain and anxietythe humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded in Palestine," Mr Putin added, according to a Kremlin transcript.

Russia has longstanding ties to both Israel and thePalestinians.

But since the war started, Moscow has upset Israelby hosting Hamas delegations and Mr Putin has emphasised the plightof the Palestinians, saying at one point that the suffering oftheir children "makes tears come to your eyes".

Russia has summoned a senior Moldovan diplomat to express "serious concern" over reports of Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine being based in Moldova, the Russian foreign ministry has said.

The ministry said Moscow was alarmed byspeculation that F-16s could be based at Moldovan airfields andused to launch attacks on Russian territory.

Moldova has rejected the reports, saying it has no plans to host weapons or aircrafts destined for Ukraine.

Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, has a Romanian-speaking majority and a substantial Russian-speaking minority, and its politics have oscillated between pro-Western and pro-Russian parties for decades.

Russian troops are garrisoned in Transniestria, a pro-Russian separatist region that broke away in a brief war in the early 1990s.

The region's independence has not been recognised by Moldova's pro-Western government or the international community.

Earlier today we reported more than 100,000 people had left Kursk following Ukraine's surprise invasion last week.

The number of those who have left or been evacuated has now gone up to 121,000, with another 59,000 in the process of beingevacuated, local officials said.

Ukrainian forces prepare to fire shells at Russian forces with a self-propelled howitzer in Ukraine's eastern separatist region of Donetsk.

Ukrainian-held parts of the Donetsk region regularly come under Russian shelling and air strikes.

Russian forces control a large part of the region, which Moscow claims along with four other Ukrainian regions as its own territory.

Two people were killed when Ukrainianforces shelled a bus with civilians in the Russian-held city ofLysychansk, Russia's state-owned TASS news agency said, citing Russian-appointed local authorities.

Russian-installed officials earlier said more than 30people had been wounded in today's attack in the Ukrainian city, which is located in the eastern region of Luhansk.

Ukraine has not yet commented on the allegations and the reports haven't been independently verified.

This video purports to show Russian forces clashing with Ukrainian troops inside the Kursk region.

Today marks the eighth day of the invasion of the border region by Kyiv.

A woman has died following "eight hours of [Russian] enemy attacks" in Ukraine's southeastern city of Kherson, according to Ukrainian officials.

Ten people were injured in the overnight attacks, including two girls aged five and seven, the local military administration said.

Footage of the shelling showing the aftermath of the strikes on residential buildings was shared by the military administration.

Kherson became the first major city to fall under Russian control when the invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022. But nine months later, Ukraine was able to regain control of the territory.

Russia has not commented on the reports.

Ukraine is not interested in "taking over" territory in Russia, its foreign ministry has said.

Spokesman Georgiy Tykhy also described Ukraine's week-old invasion of the Kursk area as "absolutely legitimate".

"Ukraine is not interested in taking over the territory of the Kursk region," he added.

Ukrainian forces stormed the region in a shock attack last week - Kyiv's first offensive action on Russian soil since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine back in 2022.

Mr Tykhy added: "The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace... the sooner the raids by the Ukrainian defence forces into Russia will stop."

Russia, meanwhile, said it had "foiled" new Ukrainian attacks in Kursk, as its defence ministry said it had thwarted "attempts by enemy mobile groups in armoured vehicles to break through deep into Russian territory" around several villages - although this is unconfirmed.

Ukraine and Russia have made conflicting claims regarding how far Kyiv's forces have penetrated inside the Kursk region.

Russia's acting governor of Kursk, Alexei Smirnov, said yesterday that Ukraine controlled 28 settlements in the region, and theincursion was about 12km deep and 40km wide.

Ukraine, on the other hand, claimed it controlled 1,000sq km of Russia - more than double what the figuresgiven by Mr Smirnov indicate.

It is still not clear who controls the key town of Sudzha.

The town is where Russia pumps gas from western Siberia through Ukraine and on to Slovakia and other European Union countries.

Russian majority state-owned energy comapny Gazprom said this morning it was still pumping gas to Ukraine through Sudzha.

Here's what the Institute for the Study of War has assessed regarding Ukrainian gains...