Here is the situation on Wednesday, August 14, 2024.

Kursk incursion

The commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskii, said Kyiv’s troops had taken control of 74 settlements in Russia’s Kursk region and were still advancing, gaining control over 40sq km (15sq miles) of territory in the past 24 hours.
In Russia, special forces commander Major General Apti Alaudinov said Ukraine’s troops had been halted. The Ministry of Defence said Russian troops had repelled attacks in villages about 26 to 28km (16 to 17 miles) from the border. Kursk regional Governor Alexei Smirnov called on residents to show patience and character, warning that “the crisis has not yet been overcome”.
United States President Joe Biden said Ukraine’s military incursion into Russia had “created a real dilemma” for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In his first substantive comments since Kyiv launched its surprise attack on August 6, Biden said he had been briefed on developments every four to five hours. Officials stressed the US had no role in planning or preparation for the attack.
Lithuanian Minister of Defence Laurynas Kasciunas said Russia was moving troops from its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad to Kursk.
Russia convened an informal gathering of the UN Security Council and criticised Ukraine’s allies for not condemning Kyiv’s incursion. “We will not recognise the aggressor as the victim,” said senior Slovenian diplomat Klemen Ponikvar, one of several members to accuse Russia of hypocrisy, double standards and wasting the council’s time. Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently occupies about one-fifth of Ukraine’s internationally-recognised territory.

Russia has been evacuating thousands of residents from the Kursk region [Ministry of Emergency Situations Press Service via AP Photo]

Fighting in Ukraine

At least one person was killed and two injured in Russian shelling of Ukraine’s Sumy region, bordering Kursk. Sumy’s regional military administration said it had recorded 45 Russian attacks on Tuesday, including guided bomb strikes, drone explosions and shelling.
Ukraine’s general staff said it was restricting the movement of civilians within a 20km (12 mile) border zone in Sumy due to an “increase in the intensity of hostilities” and the activation of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the area.
Two people were killed and 30 injured after a bus was struck by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian-occupied city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine, the TASS news agency reported, quoting Russian-appointed local officials.
The Ukrainian military said Russian forces stepped up their attacks on the Pokrovsk front in eastern Ukraine. The General Staff said there had been 52 battles in the area over the previous 24 hours, more than a third of all battles reported along the war’s 1,000km (621-mile) front line.
Russia launched 38 attack drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s Air Force said. Thirty of the drones were destroyed over eight Ukrainian regions, it added. It was not clear what happened to the weapons that were not destroyed.

Politics and diplomacy

Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s president’s chief of staff, said Ukraine plans to hold a follow-up conference this month to June’s peace summit in Switzerland. The meeting will take place online and focus on energy security, he said.