Ukraine-Russia war latest: Ukraine 'takes 100 prisoners of war' inside captured region - and 'launches major attack on Russian airfields' (2024)

That's all our coverage on this story for today - we'll be back tomorrow with all the latest updates.

Before we go, here's a reminder of what's happened over the last 24 hours:

Emergency declared in Belgorod

The Russian border region of Belgorod declared a state of emergency, citing continued attacks from Ukraine.

"The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be extremely difficult and tense," said Vyacheslav Gladkov in a video posted on the Telegram app.

Daily shelling by Ukraine had destroyed homes and killed and wounded civilians, he added.

Some 11,000 people in an area of Belgorod were evacuated earlier this week due to Ukrainian activity near the border.

Ukrainian TV airs footage of troops pulling down Russian flag

Ukrainian state TV aired a report showing Ukrainian troops pulling down a Russian flag from a building in Kursk.

Footage showed a building in the town of Sudzha, and three soldiers pulling the flag down while shouting "glory to Ukraine".

The video appeared on the YouTube account of Ukrainian news programme TSN, which appeared to have a Ukrainian journalist in the town.

Ukraine 'captures 100 prisoners of war' in Kursk

Ukraine's top commander said 100 Russian prisoners of war had been captured today in Kursk.

Oleksandr Syrskyiwas shown giving the update to Volodymyr Zelenskyy via video link in footage posted to the Ukrainian president's social media channels.

Mr Zelenskyy says Kyiv's forces were continuing to advance in the border region and had moved forward by one to two kilometres in different directions since the start of the day.

Ukrainian forces 'strike' four Russian military airfields

Ukraine stuck four Russian military airfields, according to the country's defence forces.

Giving an update on the conflict onFacebook, the army said fighter bombers, fighter jets and other military aviation equipment were based at the airfields.

It named the four sites as Khalino, Savasleyka, Borisoglebsk and Baltimore.

Ukrainian servicemen have been seen riding military vehicles and hiding from shelling near the Russian border.

Photos taken by Reuters showed a number of troops operating in the city of Sumy - the area used to launch Ukraine's surprise invasion of Russia's Kursk region.

Fighting has continued in the area today, with Russia also declaring a state of emergency in the nearby Belgorod region.

Moscow's defence ministry said Russian army units have stopped Ukrainian troops from gaining further territory near the settlements of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk and Alexeyevsky,

But Ukraine has insisted it is still advancing.

Ukraine has struck four Russian military airfields, the country's defence forces has said.

Giving an update on the conflict on Facebook, the army said fighter bombers, fighter jets and other military aviation equipment were based at the airfields.

It named the four sites as Khalino, Savasleyka, Borisoglebsk and Baltimore.

"The main objects of damage were warehouses of fuel and lubricant materials and aviation means of damage," the defence forces said.

"The results of the attack are being clarified. Coordinated combat work of all components of the defence forces continues."

In our 19.36 post, we told you Ukrainian officials had reported a ballistic missile attack in Odesa.

Now, the regional prosecutors have issued an update on the situation, saying two people have been injured.

Writing on Telegram, the city's prosecutor office said a 39-year-old port worker and 43-year-old grain truck driver were wounded.

It said they "received injuries of varying degrees" and were being treated.

Earlier, local governor Oleg Kiper said port infrastructure in the southern Ukrainian region was targeted in the attack.

By Deborah Haynes, defence and security editor

A Ukrainian soldier holds up a Russian rifle taken from inside Russia.

"A trophy," he says, smiling.

One of his colleagues, also grinning, produces a military uniform patch that reads "Armed Forces of Russia" and a 10 rouble note.

"Russian money," he says.

The pair are part of a small team of soldiers on a grey pickup truck on the Ukrainian side of a border crossing point into the Kursk region of Russia.

A third serviceman, who gives his name as Vasil, says the unit has been fighting in Russia since the beginning of the cross-border attack from Sumy region, in northeastern Ukraine, nine days ago.

He says the Russian soldiers they had encountered were just "running away".

Asked what his group is planning to do next, he says, speaking in English: "[I] think go further [in], yes."

As for whether he is scared, he says: "No."

It is the same reply when asked whether he thinks Vladimir Putin's forces will succeed in pushing the Ukrainian attackers out.

"No," he says.

Speaking with the measured, matter-of-fact tone of an experienced soldier - he has been fighting Russia's invasion of his country since 2014 - Vasil says being part of the force invading Russia is "nothing special... I'm doing my job".

Without giving much away, he says his unit was involved in monitoring.

But the soldier does share one thing he hopes will come of the incursion - showing Russian people the reality of war.

"Maybe they [the Russians] will understand that war is not this very interesting thing where you sit at home and watch TV - war is war."

All still smiling, Vasil and his team climbed back into their pickup truck and drove across the border into Russia.

A Sky News team walked as far as we could up to the border crossing point on the Ukrainian side.

The site was badly damaged - though this was more likely caused by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine two and a half years ago, when Russian forces charged through the same position, just in the opposite direction.

They were beaten back from Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region during a counteroffensive in September 2022.

However, Russian positions on their side of the border had been shelling this area ever since - until Ukraine launched its surprise attack on 6 August.

As we stood at the crossing, a number of military vehicles - each one marked with a white triangle, the symbol of the Kursk offensive - sped past into Russia.

But, a unit of Ukrainian troops manning the border point appeared nervous.

They asked us not to stand together as we could draw the attention of Russian drones.

One soldier said an attack drone had exploded nearby earlier in the day.

Increasingly uncomfortable, they asked us to leave.

Driving back towards the regional capital of Sumy, a steady flow of Ukrainian military vehicles, including large transporters carrying tracked fighting vehicles, passed us in the other direction, heading towards Ukraine's new frontline inside Russia.

A clear indicator that this offensive is being reinforced - and is definitely not in retreat.

Fighting has continued in Russia's Kursk region today - more than a week after Ukraine launched their cross-border attack

Senior Kyiv officials have said Ukrainian forces were creating a "buffer zone" and planning to organise humanitarian assistance and evacuation corridors for civilians.

Residents were reportedly abandoned by Russian authorities, and some Ukrainian troops have been delivering aid to the region.

One woman said the Russians left without announcing an evacuation.

"They just packed up and left and so many people were left without means of subsistence" she added.

Russian forces have launched a ballistic missile on the city of Odesa, a Ukrainian official has said.

Port infrastructure in the southern Ukrainian region was targeted in the attack, the local governor said.

"One person, the driver of a grain truck, was injured. Currently, the victim is hospitalized in a moderate condition," Oleg Kiper said in a Telegram post.

Odesa has been the target of several attacks since Russia's invasion started in 2022.

It is Ukraine's third-largest city and, before the war, it was vital in the country's shipping system.

Ukraine's invasion of Russia's Kursk region is "very damaging" to Vladimir Putin, the former US permanent representative to NATO has told Sky News.

Kurt Volker said Mr Putin was claiming to be "Peter the Great" and he had ended up looking more like "Nicholas II", the last tsar of Russia.

"I think this is very damaging to Putin domestically," he said.

"I don't think they have found their footing yet as to how they want to deal with it."

Mr Volker said "this was a very different situation for Putin" and "people can see it".

"Putin was not fighting this war in Ukraine to lose," he added.

"He wasn't fighting halfway or holding back. He keeps saying he is going to escalate but if he could have escalated he would have already done so.

"This exposes he is not in a position to escalate. In fact, his forces are weaker than they appear.

"He is not capable of attacking Ukraine and defending Russia at the same time."

We reported earlier on comments made by Ukraine's top commander, who said 100 Russian prisoners of war had been captured today in Kursk (see post at 11.44am).

Oleksandr Syrskyi, who was shown giving the update to Volodymyr Zelenskyy via video link, said the capture of servicemen in Russia will "accelerate the return of our guys and girls home".

Ukraine's ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets has now said he has discussed the Russian prisoners taken with his Russian counterpart.

"I see that this situation at least forced the initiative from the Russian side," he told national TV.

Ukraine is believed to have captured more than 1,000 Russian soldiers since launching the invasion of the Kursk region.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is appealing for allies to allow long-range strikes on targets inside Russia.

In his nightly address published on Telegram, Mr Zelenskyy appealed to partners to let Ukraine fire missiles deeper into Russian territory.

"The bolder the partners' decisions, the less Putin can do,"he said.

The Ukrainian leader has also hailed Ukraine's "good advance" in Russia's Kursk region, saying Kyiv was achieving its strategic goal.