Ukraine war latest: Huge blaze after fuel depot strike; civilians flee key city as Russian troops close in (2024)

Over 122,000 Russians have fled the border regions amid Ukraine's Kursk invasion, according to Russian media.

Residents have left their homes in huge numbers following Kyiv's surprise counter-punch, TASS said, citing the Russian Emergencies Ministry.

Mr Zelenskyy has previously said that his forces have captured 1,250sq/km (480 square miles) and 92 settlements in Kursk so far.

Ukraine has a "wide-open" opportunity to seize more Russian territory in their Kursk invasion, but risks Moscow making more gains inside Ukraine, says military analyst Professor Michael Clarke.

After a "fairly static" period, Prof Clarke said the war in Ukraine had entered a new stage of "dynamism" on the back of the Kursk invasion.

"I think this Kursk [attack] might get quite big, quite quickly, because the area to the west is almost wide-open to the Ukrainians now they've taken down the bridges off the Seim River.

"I wouldn't be at all surprised if they [Ukraine] go westwards."

But he warned any move of the Ukrainian counterpunch west would require a larger commitment of troops and resources.

With this, they "take a bigger risk", Prof Clarke said, as Moscow continues to make gains in eastern Ukraine.

Most recently, Russia took the Niu-York settlement.

Prof Clarke warned the likes of Toretsk was in "grave danger" and could fall within a matter of hours as well.

Satellite images appear to show pontoons being used to replace destroyed bridges in the Kursk region.

Amid Ukraine's unexpected lightning incursion into Russia, launched on 6 August, Kyiv has struck three bridges in the now contested region since Friday.

Satellite images by Planet Labs, analysed by The Associated Press, show what appear to be pontoon bridges in two different positions along the Seim River.

The first bridge appeared between the town of Glushkovo and Zvannoe on Saturday, only to be gone in images taken yesterday.

On Monday, smoke could be seen rising along the banks of the river nearby - often a sign of a strike.

Another pontoon bridge was visible around 1.1 miles (1.8km) east of one of the bridges destroyed on the Seim, in other images taken since Friday.

The pontoons were likely built by Russian troops trying to supply forces battling against the Ukrainian advance south of the river.

Sky News has not independently verified the images.

A fire continues to rage at a Russian oil depot for the third consecutive day, after it was hit by Ukrainian drones.

Russian authorities continue to battle the massive fire in the southern Rostov region.

The fire has burned across an area of 10,000 sq/m (107,639 sq/ft) in the town of Proletarsk, according to Russian state news agencies.

Of the 500 hundred firefighters involved in the operation, 41 have been injured and taken to hospital, TASS said, citing local officials.

Five of the firefighters were placed in emergency care, Governor Vasily Golubev said on the Telegram messaging app.

Around 20 of the 74 storage tanks at the huge diesel depot are on fire, the RIA news agency said, citing local administration boss Valery Gornich.

Ukraine often says it is retaliating against Russia's attacks on its own energy infrastructure, while Moscow brands such drone attacks on its oil infrastructure as acts of terrorism.

Baza, a Telegram channel close to Russian law enforcement, also said that the fire is likely to continue for several days.

The White House says its policy on Ukraine using its weapons to strike deeper into Russia has not changed.

The policy has become a point of contention between Ukraine and its allies in light of Kyiv's lightning incursion into Kursk.

Ukraine has publicly called for broader permission to use weapons in proactively attacking Russia, but some Western nations supplying them remain reluctant.

"What I will say is that our policy has not changed. I just don't have anything else to add to that," press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, when asked if the administration had given the issue any more thought.

US policy allows Ukrainian strikes into Russia where attacks are emanating from - a looser position than originally taken.

But the Biden administration still limits the use of its weapons for long-range attacks into Russia. It has not publicly defined "long-range".

But the Times reported the US was blocking a British request to back the use of British Storm Shadow missiles in Russia.

A US official, speaking to Reuters, admitted that Ukraine's Kursk incursion "complicates the policy the more they progress into Russia".

If Ukraine starts taking villages and other non-military targets using US weapons and vehicles, that could raise questions about whether it's within the limitations Washington has imposed, the official was quoted as adding.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously said the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk was a result of allies taking this position for fear of crossing Vladimir Putin's "red lines".

At a gathering of Ukrainian diplomats, the Ukrainian president said: "If our partners lifted current restrictions on the use of weapons on Russian territory, we wouldn't need to physically enter the Kursk region to protect our border communities and eliminate Russia's potential for aggression.

"But for now, we cannot use all the weapons at our disposal and eliminate Russian terrorists where they are."

Czech Republic has said it will use some of the interest from seized Russian assets in the EU to pay for ammunition for Ukraine.

The country's defence minister Jana Cernochova said the move will let them buy "hundreds of thousands of much-needed large-calibre ammunition".

The Kremlin called the plan "theft" and said it would take legal action against anyone involved in the decision.

EU governments agreed in June to use €1.4bn (£1.2bn) in profits generated from Russian assets to buy arms and support for Ukraine.

The Czech Republic-led scheme will use some of this money.

Ms Cernochova said: "The European Union decided on it. We can thus buy hundreds of thousands of much-needed large-calibre ammunition for Ukraine.

"It is another proof of the allies' trust in the Czech Republic and in our ammunition initiative.

"This is a unique opportunity to support Ukraine, to use resources originally belonging to Russia and to save the public finances of European countries."

Almost 20,000 people have suffered blackouts after a Russian strike on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

The overnight attack on the northeastern Sumy region left 18,500 people across 72 towns and villages without power, regional officials said.

The regions sits on the Russian border neighbouring the Kursk region.

For context: Bombing attacks on Sumy have increased since Ukraine's incursion.

Ukrainian energy facilities have also been a near daily target of Russian attacks over the past six months.

Power cuts are regularly announced during peak evening consumption hours.

Russia launched its fifth missile attack on Kyiv this month overnight, Ukraine's military has said.

Air defence systems successfully repelled the strike, it added.

While the full scope of the attack on Kyiv remains unknown, Ukraine said that the attack likely involved cruise missiles.

Witnesses heard blasts early this morning in what sounded like air defence systems in operation, on the outskirts of the city.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, air defence systems shot down three missiles and 25 drones.

The strikes targeted nine regions in the centre, north and south of the country, Ukraine's air force said.

Kyiv has been under air raid alerts 41 times this month.

Residents in the Ukrainian city of Ternopil have been urged to stay inside after a large fire broke out overnight.

An industrial facility was attacked and a fuel reservoir was hit, officials said.

Around 90 firefighters were deployed to battle the blaze, said Viktor Ustenko, a deputy head of the Ternopil regional administration.

"Do not leave your home unnecessarily, limit children's time outdoors as much as possible, close windows indoors," the military administration of the western Ukrainian region said.

Local health officials said there were concerns that the burning of harmful substances could prove dangerous to locals.

The fire was brought under control this morning, said Mr Ustenko said.

Dramatic pictures show firefighters dousing flames.