Ukraine-Russia war latest: Satellite image reveals Russian 'fortifications' in invaded region - as Putin 'concerned about rapid Ukrainian advances' (2024)

ByDeborah Haynes, security and defence editor

Ukrainian troops are thought to have used British Challenger 2 tanks in their offensive inside Russia, Sky News understands.

If confirmed, it would be the first time British tanks - operated by Ukrainian soldiers - have been used in combat on Russian territory.

The Ministry of Defence in London declined to comment on operational detail. Ukraine's armed forces did not offer a comment.

However, the UK has confirmed that Ukraine is free to use British weapons on Russian territory, according to government policy.

A source said this included Challenger 2 tanks and signalled that they had been used during the Ukrainian incursion, which began on 6 August.

Details on how and when Ukrainian forces potentially deployed Challenger 2 tanks within the Russian region of Kursk were not immediately clear. Neither was the number of tanks that may have been involved.

But Ukraine's powerful 82nd Air Assault Brigade is the unit of the Ukrainian armed forces that has been operating the British main battle tanks since last year.

Elements of the brigade are confirmed to be taking part in the Kursk offensive.

The UK agreed to give Ukraine 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks in January 2023 in a move that prompted Germany and the United States to follow suit with their versions.

One of the British tanks was destroyed on operations inside Ukraine last September – the first time the Challenger 2 had been taken out in active combat.

In service since 1994, the Challenger 2 tank weighs 62.5 tonnes and is armed with a 120mm rifled gun and a 7.62mm chain gun.

Under UK government policy, the use of any weapons given to Ukraine by the UK must be in line with international law. The military assistance is aimed at helping the Ukrainian military defend itself from Russian attack.

The Times reported on Wednesday that Sir Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary, had disclosed how during his tenure he gave permission for Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia using "whatever weapons [were] supplied to it", with the exception of long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

He suggested the same rules applied to Ukraine's Kursk operation in Russia.

Sir Ben was quoted as saying that if the attack was designed to go after logistics and infrastructure supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine it was "perfectly legitimate" for Ukraine to use British weapons.

By Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor, in Ukraine

The Russian prisoners of war - mostly young conscripts - were grouped together in a line of cells along a dimly lit corridor at a detention site in Ukraine.

They had been captured during a shock advance by Ukrainian troops into Russia's Kursk region.

Sky News is not showing the detainees in compliance with international law.

But we did talk to some of them - including conscripts, aged between 19 and 21.

Read what they said here...

A Ukrainian MP has told Sky News that her country's invasion into Russia's Kursk region should send a "very clear message" to NATO members that Ukraine needs long-range weaponry.

Maria Mezentseva says Ukraine wants the ability to use such weapons to strike air bases and missile launch sites deep into Russian territory.

If it had this, Ms Mezentseva says, Ukraine would not have been "forced" into creating a "buffer zone" inside Russia.

Asked by Sky News what the invasion into the Kursk region had done for Ukraine, she said: "In the Kharkiv region, it became more peaceful.

"And it keeps the morale going that Russia's army is not the second-bravest, largest, and most advanced in the world.

"This also sends a very clear message to all our allies in NATO, all our Western allies in the G7, that we really need long-range weaponry so that we would not be forced to create this buffer zone."

The UK's Ministry of Defence signalled last night that Ukraine was free to use weapons gifted by the UK as they continue their advances into Russia.

It said there was "no change in UK government policy" and that Ukraine has a "clear right" to use weapons for its self-defence.

Ukraine's advances into the Kursk region of Russia has heightened military activity in neighbouring areas.

In the Ukrainian Sumy region, from where Kyiv launched its attack into Russia, troops are in constant convoy.

Thousands of civilians have been evacuated to move further into Ukraine and away from the threat of Russian shells.

Below, images show a Ukrainian tank rolling past a burning car near the Russian border inside the Sumy region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely "putting on a brave face" as he deals with Ukraine's invasion into the Kursk region, says our security and defence editor Deborah Haynes.

According to Russian officials, nearly 200,000 people have been forced to evacuate from border regions following last week's surprise Ukrainian attack.

Haynes says it will be "impossible" for Mr Putin to hide the invasion from his people, with the story "all across" Telegram channels and on state-held Russian media.

"For a politician, a former spy, who has spent his career building a reputation of being a strong man, to have his country invaded in this way(…) it must be a huge blow to President Putin," she says.

"Whether he acknowledges that in his private moments, who knows? He's obviously putting on a brave face."

Just how far Ukraine's advances into Kursk continue is unknown.

Yesterday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv's forces were continuing to move in the border region and had moved forward by one to two kilometres in difference directions since the start of the day.

The country's top commander also said Ukraine had captured 100 Russian prisoners of war during the previous 24 hours.

Despite all this, it's important not to write off Mr Putin, who, as Haynes points out, has faced "perilous moments" in the past.

"You'll remember that mutiny last year of his mercenary chief, the Wagner boss, who attempted a storm on Moscow, which did peter out, and President Putin did survive. So it's important not to count him out.

"He's ordered his commanders to repel this Ukrainian assault. But as we keep hearing from the Ukrainian side, they are pushing further in.

"And from what I saw yesterday, there's clearly a lot of armour still heading in the direction of Russia."

As we showed you earlier this morning, Russia appears to be building defensive structures around 17 kilometres (10.5 miles) north of Ukraine's furthest position in the Kursk region.

Now, it appears that Russia is advertising for personnel to help them dig fortifications along the line.

Job listings on the Russian website Avito offer between 150,000-371,000 roubles (approximately £1,300-£3,200) for workers to dig fortifications in Kursk.

Another advert states the work site is located in the city of Kursk, on the "second line of defence" and that work involved "digging trenches". The work schedule is stated as "round the clock".

Some adverts say workers will receive "uniform, accommodation, meals, recreation areas", plus transportation to work and compensation for travel.

A video has emerged online showing an armed soldier pulling down a Russian flag from a building in Kursk.

In the video, purportedly from the Vnezapnoe area of the region, a soldier lifts the flag off a canopy roof and throws it onto the ground.

Yesterday, a Ukrainian news channel released a video apparently showing Ukrainian soldiers taking down Russian flags from an administrative building in the town of Sudzha, and shouting "glory to Ukraine, glory to heroes".

Ukraine's military says it has shot down all 29 Russian drones launched at its territory overnight.

The air force said drones were destroyed by defence forces over eight regions.

It said Russia also launched three Kh-59 guided missiles during theattack, but it did not say what happened to these or whether they had hit Ukraine.

The ongoing Ukrainian invasion of Kursk is "generating tangible defensive, logistical, and security impacts within Russia", according to military analysts.

New satellite images from Maxar show a series of field fortifications - including trenches and anti-vehicle ditches - have been built in the Lgov area.

The fortifications are around 17 kilometres (10.5 miles) north of "the furthest claimed limit of Ukrainian advances in Kursk", according to the Institute for the Study of War.

ISW analysts said this suggests the Russian military is "concerned about potential continued and rapid Ukrainian mechanised northward advances".

Russian forces also appear to be "particularly concerned about major highways" and are likely working to "pre-emptively safeguard important ground lines of communication", the ISW said.

Thousands more residents are being evacuated from another Kursk district as Ukrainian troops continue to advance in the Russian region.

Kursk governor Alexei Smirnov said authorities were asking people to leave their homes in the Glushkov district, which borders Ukraine and has a population of roughly 20,000 people.

He said police and other state bodies would co-ordinate the evacuation.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops were continuing to gain ground in Kursk and had advanced one to two kilometres in several directions yesterday.

According to Russian officials, nearly 200,000 people are or have been evacuated following last week's surprise attack.