Ukraine blows up second bridge in Kursk as Putin hits back with missiles attack: Live

Volodymyr Zelensky is asking his closest allies to help Ukraine with more logistics for promised ammunition as he presented a nightly update on the frontline actions.

“I received a briefing from Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi, covering the situation in the eastern part of Ukraine, operations in the Kursk region, the ‘exchange fund,’ and the equipping of our brigades, particularly the reserves, with ammunition and weapons. In every direction, our troops are doing an outstanding job,” Mr Zelensky said last night.

He added: “However, when it comes to supplies from our partners, we need things to speed up. There are no holidays in war. We need decisions—we need timely logistics for the promised aid packages. I’m specifically addressing the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.”

The Ukrainian leader hinted at his engagement at the upcoming diplomatic front, refering to Europe, America and the Global South.

“We’ve already expanded and will continue to expand the circle of those who support a just end to this war. It’s vital that Ukraine enters this autumn even stronger than before,” he said.

Air defence units were engaged early this morning on the outskirts of Kyiv trying to repel Russia’s air attack, Kyiv’s military administration said.

Blasts were heard in what sounded like air defence units at work, according to the witnesses.

The scale of Russia’s aerial raid and weapons used in attacking Ukraine overnight is not immediately clear.

Since then, Kyiv’s forces have claimed to have taken more land in just over a week than Russia has in Ukraine during this entire calendar year.

It is the largest foreign attack on sovereign Russian territory since the Second World War.

Ukraine’s surprise attack inside Russia is the only way to force Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table as part of a “psychological” tactic to win the war, president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief adviser told The Independent earlier this week.

Mykhailo Podolyak, the top aide to the Ukrainian president, said the incursion had shown Russians the harsh realities of Vladimir Putin’s war.

“We need to use absolutely clear tools to coerce Russia [into negotiation]. One of them is a military instrument of coercion.

“That is, we need to inflict significant tactical defeats on Russia, in addition to economic and diplomatic tools. In the Kursk region, we are seeing the optimisation of this military tool of coercion to force Russia into the negotiation process.”

Tom Watling has the full report:

The quake, which occurred at 7.10am local time (8.10pm on Saturday in the UK), struck at a depth of 18 miles and caused “severe shaking” to buildings in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

It happened near a major naval base but there were no early reports of damage or injuries. The quake prompted a tsunami warning that was later lifted.

Russian scientists have warned that tremors in the area may be a prelude to an even stronger earthquake. The Institute of Volcanology said a potential second quake could come “within 24 hours” with a magnitude approaching 9.0.

According to Western military analysts, there were three bridges in the area of the Ukrainian army’s offensive through which Russia supplies its forces – and two of them have been either destroyed or seriously damaged.

Phillips O’Brien, of the University of St Andrews, said: “If the Ukrainians can make it impossible for the Russians to supply troops south of the Seym [river] … they will at a minimum provide a secure flank to their offensive.

“The Russian military is ponderous and needs heavy logistical supply to undertake operations. Without bridges, it’s hard to see the Russians supplying the needed forces to keep that area effectively militarised.”

Russia has filed claims with Germany regarding the investigation into the 2022 explosions of the Nord Stream pipelines, a Russian foreign ministry official said.

“We have raised the issue of Germany and other affected countries fulfilling their obligations under the UN anti-terrorist conventions,” Russian news agency RIA cited Oleg Tyapkin, the head of a European department at the Russian foreign ministry, as saying.

“We have officially made corresponding claims on this matter bilaterally, including to Berlin.”

Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine’s military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region is aimed at creating a buffer zone to prevent further attacks by Moscow across the border.

In his first confirmation of aim behind the Kursk military incursion, Mr Zelensky said: “It is now our primary task in defensive operations overall to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible and conduct maximum counteroffensive actions. This includes creating a buffer zone on the aggressor’s territory – our operation in the Kursk region.”

It was the first time Mr Zelenskyy clearly stated the aim of the operation, which was launched on 6 August. Previously, he had said the operation aimed to protect communities in the bordering Sumy region from constant shelling.

Kyiv previously has said little about the goals of its push into Russia with tanks and other armoured vehicles, the largest attack on the country since the Second World War, which took the Kremlin by surprise and saw scores of villages and hundreds of prisoners fall into Ukrainian hands.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence has said that Russia is restricting access to information for people in Russia in an attempt to limit criticism of the invasion of Ukraine.

In a post on X, the MoD said on Saturday: “Russia is restricting access to information to limit criticism of its destructive invasion of Ukraine. Communications channels are being pulled away as the Kremlin tightens its grip on free expression.”

Ukraine is reaping “huge political gains” from its military offensive into Russia, Poland’s interior minister has said – as he insisted that the incursion was not altering the “anti-escalation approach” of the West

Asked whether Kyiv’s military gains could change its allies’ stance on the use of arms they supply for its war with Russia, Tomasz Siemoniak told Reuters: “This offensive does not change the anti-escalation attitude of the West.”

He added: “I think that for Western countries this is an event in terms of changing the image of Ukraine – Kyiv’s political gains are huge after less than two weeks.”