Ukraine-Russia latest: Ukraine now controls 1,000sq km of Russian territory, official says - as Putin responds to Kyiv's assaults (2024)

On 6 August, Ukraine invaded Russia's Kursk region and Russian forces are still scrambling to respond to the surprise attack.

The attack has caused more than 100,000 civilians to flee and Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi says his forces now control 1,000 square kilometres of the region.

The question over whether Kyiv's forces aim to hold territory or are staging hit-and-run raids remain unclear but it is the first time the Ukrainian army has spearheaded an attack of this nature rather than pro-Ukraine Russian fighters.

Here, Sky News takes a look at how things unfolded...

As Kyiv's forces enter parts of Russia, here is a recap of what has happened today:

• Some 11,000 people were evacuated from the Krasnoyaruzhsky district in Russia's Belgorod region due to activity by Ukrainian forces, a Russian official said;
• Ukraine's top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said his forces now controlled 1,000 square kilometres of Russia's neighbouring Kursk region, the first time a Ukrainian military official has publicly commented on the gains;
• Vladimir Putin said the Ukrainian army's invasion into the Kursk region, which has caused more than 100,000 civilians to flee, was an attempt by Kyiv to stop Moscow's offensive in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region and gain leverage in possible future peace talks;
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed for the first time that Ukrainian military forces are operating inside the Kursk region;
• The Ukrainian leader also said Russia had to be "forced to make peace".

Today, Ukraine's top military commander said his forces now control 1,000 square kilometres of Russia's neighbouring Kursk region, the first time a Ukrainian military official has publicly commented on the gains of the attack.

General Oleksandr Syrskyi made the statement in a video posted to Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Telegram channel.

In the video, he briefed the president on the frontline situation.

"The troops are fulfilling their tasks. Fighting continues actually along the entire front line. The situation is under our control," he said.

Russian forces are still scrambling to respond to the surprise Ukrainian attack after almost a week of fierce fighting.

You can watch him speak to Ukrainian officials here...

Ukraine has urged France to lift its ban on weapons it provides being used to hit military targets inside Russia.

Ukraine's defence minister Rustem Umerov wrote on X that he had held a "productive call" with France's minister of the armed forces Sebastien Lecornu on the recent frontline status.

"I urged on the necessity to lift bans on hitting military targets on enemy's territory," he said.

Western countries have restricted the use of their weapons to military targets located inside Ukraine, amid concerns that attacking targets in Russia could escalate the conflict.

Russia has said it is carrying out a "counterterrorism operation" in its border regions with Ukraine.

In a clip shared by columnist for The Daily Beast, Julia Davis, a news presenter of Russia's state news channel says the Kremlin is ensuring the safety of its citizens from the "threat of sabotage and terrorist acts".

"Counterterrorism operations have been announced in three Russian regions: Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk," she says.

"The national antiterrorism committee underscored that Kyiv made an unprecedented attempt to destabilise the situation in a number of border regions.

"The government is implementing special measures to ensure the safety of its citizens from the threat of sabotage and terrorist acts."

Earlier, Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine's biggest attack on Russian territory since the start of the war was aimed at improving Kyiv's negotiating position ahead of possible peace talks and at slowing the advance of Russian forces.

Russia has to be "forced to make peace", Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

Speaking in his nightly address, the Ukrainian leader said that Kyiv's major cross-border assault into the western region of Kursk was a matter of security for Ukraine and that Kyiv had captured areas from where Russia had launched strikes.

"Russia must be forced to make peace if Putin wants to fight so badly," he said.

He said Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, which lies across the border from Kursk region, had been attacked almost 2,100 times by Russian cross-border strikes since 1 June.

"Russia brought war to others, now it's coming home. Ukraine has always wanted only peace, and we will certainly ensure peace," he added.

Ukrainian troops have been taking down Russian flags in villages across the Kursk region.

The clips, which have been circulating on social media, come as Ukraine's top commander said Kyiv controlled around 1,000 square kilometres of the region.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier a meeting of top-level officials had ordered the preparation of a "humanitarian plan" for the area.

Russia did have some advance warning that an attack was going to take place but they "didn't take it seriously", an expert at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) has told Sky News.

Senior associate fellow at the institute,Mark Galeotti, said it was currently a "very fast-moving and fluid situation".

"However you play it, this is something that Putin cannot ignore. It is the first invasion of the Russian territory since the Second World War," he said.

"And for someone who had been claiming that everything was going according to plan in Ukraine, it clearly puts a line to that."

Mr Galeotti added: "It seems Russia did have some advance warning that an attack was going to take place, but they thought it was going to be a short and minor raid.

"They clearly didn't take it seriously."

He said Ukraine was going to have "a variety of objectives" - military and political.

When it came to military objectives, Mr Galeotti said Ukraine "wanted to draw troops away from the other fronts".

And when it came to political objectives, the expert said "it was not just a chance to humiliate Putin" but "also a chance to convey to Europe and the US - whose support Ukraine relies on - that the war is not yet over".

The US has said it is deeply concerned by reports that Iran is planning to deliver hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia.

State department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters this afternoon that such a move would represent a dramatic escalation.

For context: On Friday, reports emerged that dozens of men in the Russian military were being trained in Iran to use the Fath 360 close-range ballistic missile system.

Two intelligence sources also told Reuters that they expected the imminent delivery of hundreds of the satellite-guided weapons to Russia.

Russian officials are believed to have signed a contract with Iranian officials last December in Tehran for the missiles.

Ukraine controls around 1,000 square kilometres of Russia's Kursk region, Kyiv's army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has said in the last few moments.

This is the first time the Kursk region has been named by the Ukrainian commander.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published a video excerpt of Mr Syrskyi's report on Telegram.

We have been reporting throughout the day of Ukraine's biggest attack on Russian territory since the start of the war.

Ukrainian forces rammed through the Russian border last Tuesday and swept across some western parts of Russia's Kursk region, a surprise attack that has laid bare the weakness of Russian border defences in the area.