Russia’s military has said it is “continuing to repel” a Ukrainian cross-border incursion into the western Kursk region – a surprise attack now in its fourth day.<\/p>\n
The Russian defence ministry said Ukraine lost more than 280 military personnel in the past 24 hours – a claim that has not been independently verified.<\/p>\n
Reports suggest that Ukrainian troops are operating more than 10km (six miles) inside Russia – the deepest cross-border advance by Kyiv since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.<\/p>\n
Ukraine has not openly admitted the incursion, but President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Moscow must “feel” the consequences for its invasion.<\/p>\n
Separately, Ukraine’s military said it hit overnight a military airfield deep inside Russia, destroying guided bombs stored in warehouses.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the Ukrainian military reported a huge blaze and multiple detonations at the Lipetsk airfield, more than 350km (217 miles) from Ukraine’s border, after the overnight strike.<\/p>\n
The statement said the airfield was known for housing Russia’s Su-34, Su-35 and MiG-31 war planes – but provided no further information about the attack.<\/p>\n
Lipetsk’s regional authorities said a state of emergency was now in place in the area, confirming the detonations at an “energy infrastructure facility”. Residents of four nearby villages were being evacuated.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Tuesday, the Russian defence ministry said its forces were repelling “an attempt by the Ukrainian armed forces to invade the territory of the Russian Federation”.<\/p>\n
It said Russia was using aviation and artillery, managing to suppress “raid attempts by enemy units”.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Tuesday, a “federal state of emergency” was declared in the Kursk region – a move that underlines how grave the current situation is.<\/p>\n
Russia said that up to 1,000 Ukrainian troops, supported by tanks and armoured vehicles, entered the Kursk region on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
“Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done,\u201d Mr Zelensky said in a video address late on Thursday.<\/p>\n
“Ukrainians know how to achieve their goals. And we did not choose to achieve our goals in the war,” he added.<\/p>\n