Ukraine-Russia war latest: As Ukrainian troops advance into Russia, Michael Clarke explains what it means (2024)

While we haven't been able to bring you live rolling coverage on the war in Ukraine today, we have been keeping an eye on the latest developments.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian forces smashed through the Russian border into the Kursk region and fighting has been taking place there for the past five days.

Ukraine has remained tight-lipped about what is happening - and what its broader goal for the operation is, but we have seen Russia take some extra measures to bolster security in the region today.

Russia claims to use bomb that suffocates its targets

Moscow announced a "counter-terrorism operation" to increase security in the border region would take place.

The Russian defence ministry said fighting was continuing and the army had conducted air strikes against Ukrainian forces.

It said it had used a thermobaric bomb that both causes a blast wave and creates a vacuum that suffocates its targets.

The measures announced for Kursk and for the neighbouring Belgorod and Bryansk regions that border Ukraine allow the government to relocate residents, control phone communications and requisition vehicles.

More than 76,000 people havebeen evacuated so far, the local emergency ministry was quoted by the Tass newsagency as saying.

Unspecified objects shot down in Belarus

In neighbouring Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko said air defences had shot down unspecified objects launched from Ukraine that were flying over Belarusian territory.

"I do not understand why Ukraine needs this. We need to figure it out. As I said before, we made it clear to them that any provocations will not go unanswered," Mr Lukashenko said, according to state news agency Belta.

Offshore gas platform used by Russian forces hit, Ukraine claims

Elsewhere, Ukraine's navy and militaryintelligence have attacked and damaged a former offshore gasplatform used by Russian forces in the Black Sea.

"The occupiers used this location for GPS spoofing to make civilian navigation dangerous. We cannot allow this to happen," navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said on Facebook.

He posted a video taken at night showing an explosion on anoffshore platform and the ensuing fire.

He said that a half aday before the attack, Russian forces had stationed equipmentand military personnel on the platform.

"There were no civilians there. The platform was notperforming its normal functions," Mr Pletenchuk claimed.

Sky News has not independently verified this information.

We're getting more information now on the Ukrainian special forces operation on the Russian-occupied Kinburn Spit in the Black Sea.

Ukraine says it destroyed six units of Russian armoured vehicles and that "about three dozen invaders were eliminated".

However Russia's defence ministry, quoted by the Interfax news agency, said the raid was repelled.

It said some of the Ukrainian forces were stopped by mines and the rest were gunned down with firearms.

Moscow claimed Ukraine lost 16 "saboteurs" in the operation.

The Kinburn Spit is in Ukraine's southern Mykolaiv region and juts out into the Black Sea.

Moscow's military vantage point on the spit is seen as one of the reasons why Ukraine cannot reopen its ports of Mykolaiv and Kherson and export goods from them via its Black Sea shipping corridor.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his army chief has briefed him on the Ukrainian military's "defensive actions" taking place in areas used by Russia to launch airstrikes.

The Ukrainian president did not specifically mention the incursion into Russia's Kursk region which has made headlines this week.

Ukraine has offered little information on the operation, with few updates coming through on what exactly is happening.

Russian troops regularly conduct air attacks on Ukraine from the Kursk region.

Throughout the day we've been bringing you updates on a suspected Russian attack on the Ukrainian town of Kostiantynivka.

Ukrainian officials now say at least 14 people have been killed in the attack on a supermarket, up from a previously reported 12 deaths.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier said there were people under the rubble of the supermarket and a post office.

Nova Poshta, Ukraine's largest private postal company, said its cargo office in the supermarket was damaged in the strike.

"All our employees are alive. One colleague received a concussion – he is getting all the necessary help," the company said on X.

Away from Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region, Ukrainian special forces have also conducted an amphibious raid on the Russian-occupied Kinburn Spit.

The operation destroyed six Russian armoured vehicles and personnel, the Ukrainain military intelligence agency said.

The Kinburn Spit is in the southern Mykolaiv region and juts out into the Black Sea.

It was captured by Russia at the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022.

If you're just joining us, here is a reminder of what we know so far about Ukraine's incursion.

Fighting has continued in the Kursk region of Russia for a fourth day after Ukrainian forces smashed through the border earlier this week.

There is much that remains unclear and Ukraine remains tight-lipped about what is happening - and what its broader goal for the operation is.

These are the main things we know...

• As many as 6,000 Ukrainian troops may have crossed the border, reports suggest
• Fighting around the town of Sudzha has been ongoing and some military bloggers have suggested that it is now under Ukrainian control
• The ISW thinktank has estimated that Ukrainian forces may have penetrated up to 35km (20 miles) inside Russian territory
• Russia has claimed to be repelling Ukrainian efforts, but it is not clear whether this is true
• Ukraine has yet to comment on the Kursk incursion, and operational security in general for Kyiv's forces has been very tight
• The US has said it does not consider the action in Kursk to be escalatory.

Mathieu Boulegue, a defence analyst at the Chatham House thinktank, has said the Ukrainians appear to have a clear goal in mind, even if they're not saying what it is.

“Such a coordinated ground force movement responds to a clear military objective, yet unknown, that requires extreme operational security,” he said.

At the same time, the raid spooks the Russian public and delivers a slap in the face to Russian President Vladimir Putin, offering Ukraine "a great PR coup," he added.

The attack "is a massive symbol, a massive display of force [showing] that the war is not frozen, the war is coming to you".

The number of people who died in a Russian strike on a supermarket in the Donetsk region has risen to 12, Ukraine says.

At least four homes, a shopping centre, a post office, shops and a car wash were damaged in the attack on Kostiantynivka.

Images from the scene showed thick black smoke pouring into the air as firefighters picked through the rubble.

Some 44 people were injured in the strike, which reportedly involved aKh-38 missile.

While the full extent of Ukraine's incursion into Russia remains unclear, the town ofSudzha has been a focus over the last few days.

Located around 10.5km (6.5 miles) from the border with Ukraine, it is around 100km from the regional capital, the city of Kursk.

Sudzha had been home to around 5,000 people and is the site of an important gas transportation hub.

But after Ukrainian forces broke across the border on Tuesday in ashock counter-offensive, it is no longer certain that Sudzha is under Russian control.

Ukrainian troops that have crossed the border - and it's thought there could be several thousand - have been reportedly expanding the areas under their control.