The Russian defence ministry announced today that its forces had repelled several attempts by Ukrainian forces to advance in the Russian province of Kursk.

The Russian ministry said the Ukrainian forces had lost up to 400 soldiers killed and wounded, in addition to 20 armoured combat vehicles, and noted that the Russian air force had targeted 20 Ukrainian brigades in the Russian provinces of Kursk and Sumy in north-eastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours.4

Ukrainian forces have lost 15,300 troops and 124 tanks since the start of their offensive on Kursk province on 6 August, it said.

Ukraine had announced at the start of its offensive on Kursk that it intended to create a buffer zone in the province to protect itself from shelling and open humanitarian corridors to deliver aid to civilians.