The Russian invasion of Ukraine began 906 days ago. The Ukrainian Armed Forces advanced one to three kilometers in different directions in the Kursk region on Friday, Commander-in-Chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky said in a report to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Here's what happened in and around Ukraine over the past 24 hours.
> The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador on Friday Italianto protest – as it announced – the “illegal” entry of a RAI television crew into the Kursk area – the Italian Ansa reported, citing the TASS agency. The Italian journalists were the first foreign crew to enter the area attacked by Ukrainian troops.
> After the troops entered Ukraine to Kursk district Russia has moved additional forces there. from other areas and is building fortifications to prevent further advances in the offensive, the British Ministry of Defence said on Friday. In turn, an adviser to the Ukrainian president stressed that Kiev's landing was necessary to convince Moscow to start “fair” peace talks.
> The Ukrainian Armed Forces advanced 1-3 km in different directions in the Kursk region on Friday, Commander-in-Chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky said in a report to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine continues attacks in Kursk regionGEORGE IVANCHENKO/PAP/EPA
> Ukrainian authorities are accelerating the evacuation of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, which the Russians are approaching “at a rapid pace,” AP reported. Geolocation on Aug. 14 and 15 indicated that Russian forces had advanced in Grodivka, east of Pokrovsk, Mykolayivka, southeast of Pokrovsk, and had probably also occupied the towns of Zhelanne and Orlivka.
> It is not yet possible to assess whether Ukraine will manage to reverse the course of the conflict with an offensive on Russian territory. However, we are currently witnessing a “colossal change in the course of the war,” he said. German military expert Carlo Masala from the Bundeswehr University in Munich.
> “The Ukrainian military operation is the result of the actions of a handful of skirmishers who have already been neutralized” – this is the image that Russian propaganda media have been presenting to the public since August 6. At the same time, they provide further fabricated evidence that the offensive was stifled before it even had a chance to develop.
> The French daily “Le Monde” emphasizes that Ukraine's Western allies are surprised by the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region in Russia, but it has not shaken their support for Kiev, and in the European Union Poland has expressed “clear” support for Ukraine.
Main image source: GEORGE IVANCHENKO/PAP/EPA