Ukraine blows up second bridge in Kursk as Putin hits back with missiles attack: Live

Ukraine’s surprise attack inside Russia is the only way to force Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table as part of a “psychological” tactic to win the war, president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief adviser told The Independent earlier this week.

Mykhailo Podolyak, the top aide to the Ukrainian president, said the incursion had shown Russians the harsh realities of Vladimir Putin’s war.

“We need to use absolutely clear tools to coerce Russia [into negotiation]. One of them is a military instrument of coercion.

“That is, we need to inflict significant tactical defeats on Russia, in addition to economic and diplomatic tools. In the Kursk region, we are seeing the optimisation of this military tool of coercion to force Russia into the negotiation process.”

Tom Watling has the full report:

The quake, which occurred at 7.10am local time (8.10pm on Saturday in the UK), struck at a depth of 18 miles and caused “severe shaking” to buildings in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

It happened near a major naval base but there were no early reports of damage or injuries. The quake prompted a tsunami warning that was later lifted.

Russian scientists have warned that tremors in the area may be a prelude to an even stronger earthquake. The Institute of Volcanology said a potential second quake could come “within 24 hours” with a magnitude approaching 9.0.

According to Western military analysts, there were three bridges in the area of the Ukrainian army’s offensive through which Russia supplies its forces – and two of them have been either destroyed or seriously damaged.

Phillips O’Brien, of the University of St Andrews, said: “If the Ukrainians can make it impossible for the Russians to supply troops south of the Seym [river] … they will at a minimum provide a secure flank to their offensive.

“The Russian military is ponderous and needs heavy logistical supply to undertake operations. Without bridges, it’s hard to see the Russians supplying the needed forces to keep that area effectively militarised.”

Russia has filed claims with Germany regarding the investigation into the 2022 explosions of the Nord Stream pipelines, a Russian foreign ministry official said.

“We have raised the issue of Germany and other affected countries fulfilling their obligations under the UN anti-terrorist conventions,” Russian news agency RIA cited Oleg Tyapkin, the head of a European department at the Russian foreign ministry, as saying.

“We have officially made corresponding claims on this matter bilaterally, including to Berlin.”

Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine’s military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region is aimed at creating a buffer zone to prevent further attacks by Moscow across the border.

In his first confirmation of aim behind the Kursk military incursion, Mr Zelensky said: “It is now our primary task in defensive operations overall to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible and conduct maximum counteroffensive actions. This includes creating a buffer zone on the aggressor’s territory – our operation in the Kursk region.”

It was the first time Mr Zelenskyy clearly stated the aim of the operation, which was launched on 6 August. Previously, he had said the operation aimed to protect communities in the bordering Sumy region from constant shelling.

Kyiv previously has said little about the goals of its push into Russia with tanks and other armoured vehicles, the largest attack on the country since the Second World War, which took the Kremlin by surprise and saw scores of villages and hundreds of prisoners fall into Ukrainian hands.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence has said that Russia is restricting access to information for people in Russia in an attempt to limit criticism of the invasion of Ukraine.

In a post on X, the MoD said on Saturday: “Russia is restricting access to information to limit criticism of its destructive invasion of Ukraine. Communications channels are being pulled away as the Kremlin tightens its grip on free expression.”

Ukraine is reaping “huge political gains” from its military offensive into Russia, Poland’s interior minister has said – as he insisted that the incursion was not altering the “anti-escalation approach” of the West

Asked whether Kyiv’s military gains could change its allies’ stance on the use of arms they supply for its war with Russia, Tomasz Siemoniak told Reuters: “This offensive does not change the anti-escalation attitude of the West.”

He added: “I think that for Western countries this is an event in terms of changing the image of Ukraine – Kyiv’s political gains are huge after less than two weeks.”

The idea that Ukraine could burst through into Russian territory on the scale it has in Kursk seemed unthinkable to many observers prior to last week, with the shock operation raising questions about the effectiveness of Russia’s surveillance, as well as the calibre of its border fortifications and forces.

“The Russians had a complete intelligence failure here,” Yohann Michel, a research fellow at the Lyon-based Institute of Defence and Strategy Studies, told Reuters.

With Ukraine’s forces retreating in eastern Ukraine, one of the most strategic sectors of the front line, Moscow may well have assumed Kyiv would not make a high-stakes gamble that even now it is far from clear will pay off, Mr Michel said.

“I would understand if it was difficult for the Russians to think something that big could happen,” he said.

The UK “should be proud” of British weapons being used by Ukraine, defence secretary John Healey has said, as he praised Volodymr Zelensky’s “bold” incursion into Russian territory.

Writing in the Sunday Express, Mr Healey said: “The bold incursion by Ukrainian troops into Russia in recent days – to defend against further Russian strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities – has exposed vulnerabilities in Russia’s military and put Putin under pressure.

“Let me be very clear: under Article 51 of the UN Charter, Ukraine has a clear right of self-defence against Russia’s illegal attacks. Providing international law is followed, that does not rule out operations inside Russia.”

He added: “We should be proud of Britain’s support for Ukraine’s struggle. We should be proud that British-donated equipment, in the hands of brave Ukrainians on the front line, is helping them to defend their country and push back Putin.”

Kyiv’s military exploited poorly-defended border positions and later overran two fortified Russian defensive lines, essentially infantry strong points with anti-tank ditches, before pushing around a dozen miles into Kursk, taking towns like Sudzha in the process. Ukraine’s forces say they are still advancing.

Mykhailo Podolyak said that Russia’s military “doesn’t live up to its name” and that poor communication between generals and soldiers on the ground had left weaknesses for Ukraine to attack. He added that the assault showed Russia has “very little control” over its border regions despite the Kremlin’s claims to be a “heavily militarised society”.

“We are destroying the propagandistic view of Russia that it is a heavily militarised society and that it has a strong sense of cohesiveness,” the adviser said. “The reputation of its own armed forces doesn’t live up to its name. The operation in Kursk has very much shown that.”

Our foreign affairs reporter Tom Watling has the full report: