We have been reporting today on Vladimir Putin’s response to the Ukrainian army’s invasion of the Kursk region, which has caused more than 100,000 civilians to flee.
Russian forces are still scrambling to respond to the surprise Ukrainian attack after almost a week of fierce fighting, but Mr Putin insisted Moscow’s army would prevail.
Speaking at a meeting with top security and defence officials, the Russian leader said the attack that began on 6 August appeared to reflect Kyiv’s attempt to gain a better negotiating position in possible future talks to end the war.
He argued that Ukraine may have hoped to cause public unrest in Russia with the attack, adding that it has failed to achieve that goal, and claimed that the number of volunteers to join the Russian military had increased because of the assault.
Here are some of the scenes that have emerged today of Mr Putin’s meeting with security officials and regional governors to discuss the situation…
Ukraine accuses Russia of ‘groundless war crimes’ claims
Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) has said that Russia is trying to falsely accuse Kyiv’s military of war crimes.
In a statement on Telegram, the SBU said it had information showing Russia might stage crimes for which it would blame Ukraine.
“The Security Service of Ukraine notes the attempts of the special services of the Russian Federation to use the situation in the Kursk region to groundlessly accuse Ukrainian defenders of committing war crimes,” the SBU said.
“To do this, the Russian side creates and spreads various fakes and information leaks that have nothing to do with reality.”
For context: Earlier, Alexei Smirnov, acting governor of the Kursk region, was quoted by Russian state media as saying Ukrainian forces had used shells containing chemical weapons.
Mr Smirnov said Ukraine had taken control of 28 settlements in the Kursk region.
Ukraine controls 1,000sq km of Russian territory
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.
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