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Here’s what happened when 100 Russian soldiers in Kursk were captured in one go by the Ukrainians this week.

The soldiers of Russia’s 488th rifle regiment, who were mostly conscripts, “ran away” when they came up against a large unit of Ukrainian troops, Clarke says.

As they fled, they were fired on by Chechen forces on the Russia side, who were “there to stop them running away,” he explains.

“They went the other way, went back towards the enemy and surrendered. So a whole company of young conscripts, all 18, 19-year-old boys, surrendered,” adds Clarke.

But he says that while “several hundred” prisoners have been taken by Ukraine during its invasion of Kursk, “it hasn’t all gone the Ukrainians’ way”.

“There’s evidence that the some of the big Ukrainian units have been ambushed as well. So the fighting is very fragmentary – it’s not coherent.”

Pokrovsk ‘in real trouble’ as Russian troops advance

The eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk is in “real trouble” as Russian forces quickly close in, says a defence and security analyst Michael Clarke.

While Russia is pulling forces from elsewhere, including Kaliningrad and the Crimea peninsula, in response to Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk, troops are staying put in Donbas, where Russia has been making steady advances for months.

Moscow is focusing its efforts on the Donetsk region and a major push towards the key Ukrainian logistics hub of Pokrovsk is ramping up.

“That’s where the Ukrainians are suffering. The Russians are still moving towards Pokrovsk,” says Clarke.

“Pokrovsk is in real danger now, and I think the Russians are determined to try to take it even before they take back territory [in Kursk] to prove that they’re not going to be distracted from it.”

Clarke adds that the “risks are rising on both sides” with Russia and Ukraine both “putting more chips onto the table”.