Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin claims Moscow pushing Kyiv’s troops out of Kursk

Last weekend, when I was taken into Russia’s Kursk region by the Ukrainian army, I remembered how, as a foreign correspondent, I had rued all the bureaucratic hurdles in travelling to and from Moscow.

When I was posted to Moscow, years ago, as a British newspaper’s correspondent for the region, I was messed around by malicious Russianauthorities for months before I was granted a Russian press visa. Even after that, Russian airport officials had a knack of making entry to or exit from their country unpleasant.

It was always a joy to board a western plane flying out of Russia. The air crew said they recognised “that look” of relief on the faces of those taking their seats and, sometimes, would immediately offer a celebratory drink to passengers – even if they were flying economy.

Ukrainian parliament on Thursday appointed first deputy foreign minister Andrii Sybiha as Ukraine’s new foreign minister, lawmakers said.

Vladimir Putin has claimed Ukraine’s incursion into the Russian region of Kursk had failed to slow Russia’s own advance in eastern Ukraine.

Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Putin said Russian forces were now gradually pushing Ukrainian soldiers out of Kursk.

Kyiv launched the audacious cross-border incursion into the region on 6 August, the largest foreign attack into Russia since the Second World War.

“The enemy’s goal was to make us nervous and worry and to transfer troops from one sector to another and to stop our offensive in key areas, primarily in the Donbas,” Putin said. “Did it work? No.”

Russian president Vladimir Putin has two secret sons who live an isolated life of luxury in a heavily-guarded mansion, according to a Russian investigative journalism website.

The Dossier Centre reported that Ivan, nine, and Vladimir Jr, five, spend most of the year at their father’s vast mansion near Lake Valdai, northwest of Moscow.

Their mother is Alina Kabaeva, the former Olympic rhythmic gymnast whose relationship with Putin has been an open secret in Russia for more than a decade, the Dossier Centre claim.

Vladimir Putin’s forces have launched 100 deadly glide bombs in an overnight attack on Ukraine as Russia continued its relentless aerial barrage across the country, Kyiv claimed.

Glide bombs, also called KAB – the Ukrainian acronym for guided aerial bomb, are old-fashioned “iron” aerial bombs of the sort that were dropped by bombers during the Second World War.

Russia is believed to have converted hundreds of thousands of Soviet-era KABs by fitting them with GPS guidance systems and wings. The Ukrainian military did not specify where the bombs had been dropped.

Dmytro Kuleba is one of Ukraine’s most recognisable faces to Western officials, seemingly never afraid to speak his mind. It is that independence that has contributed to the foreign minister becoming the highest-profile member of president Volodymyr Zelensky’s cabinet involved in another major shake-up of Ukraine’s top brass. One which will end up the largest of the war.

Kuleba has offered his resignation as part of what is seen as a political “reset” for Kyiv engineered by Zelensky and his close circle. A number of other ministers also submitted their resignations on Tuesday. Zelensky has said that the cabinet overhaul is part of an effort to “give new strength” to Ukraine’s government and, in the process, solidify Zelensky’s ability to guide policy.

The reshuffle comes at a crucial point. Ukraine has been slowly losing territory in the eastern Donetsk region to a Russian advance, while drone and missile attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure have led to rolling nationwide blackouts, which are likely only to worsen as we head towards winter.

An audacious cross-border assault into Russia’s Kursk region, where Kyiv’s forces have taken about 1,000 square kilometres of territory in around three weeks, has given a much-needed morale boost and reminded Western allies that Kyiv can still surprise its enemy, despite being significantly outgunned and at a troop disadvantage.

Russia is now claiming that military instructors from different countries are working in Ukraine and taking part in military actions and the training of Ukrainian forces, Russian news agencies reported today.

The claims were made by the Kremlin spokesperson and Vladimir Putin’s close aide Dmitry Peskov who wrongfully claimed that the US and Europe have shown no interest in a diplomatic solution to the war.

Peskov said Russia does not see any prerequisites for peace talks with Ukraine at the moment and it would continue its military operation inside its smaller neighbour nation until it achieves all of its aims, reported RIA news agency.

He also said that the Russian authorities were not discussing a new mobilisation.

A father has lost his entire family after his house was destroyed during Russia’s attack on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

Yaroslav Bazylevych’s wife Eugenia and the couple’s three daughters, Yarya, 21, Daria, 18 and Emilia, seven, were all killed on Wednesday morning.

The attack led Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi to accuse Russia of “eliminating Ukrainians by (killing off) entire families”.

Ukrainian emergency services said his daughters – Daryna, 18, her sisters Yaryna, 21, and Emilia, 7, and their 43-year-old mother Yevhenia were killed while sheltering in the staircase of their residential building.