Ukraine: Kyiv says 600 Russian soldiers captured in Kursk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his military used Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets to shoot down drones and missiles fired by Russia in recent attacks.

Earlier this month, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had received the first batch of fighter jets promised by Western countries, but declined to say how many had been delivered.

"We destroyed already some missiles and drones using the F-16," Zelenskyy said in English at a press conference in Kyiv, adding that Ukraine still needed more of the jets.

Ukraine's air force has long relied on a fleet of ageing Soviet-era MIG-29 and Sukhoi jets, which are under increasing strain after more than two years of demanding combat operations. 

The Ukrainian presidency has said it wants the next peace summit to end the conflict in Ukraine to be held in a country of the Global South.

Leaders and top officials from more than 90 countries gathered in Switzerland in June for the first such summit, which was held without Russia or China. 

"We would like for the second summit to be held in one of the countries of the Global South," presidential aide Andriy Yermak said at a forum in Kyiv.

The Global South refers to states often described as "developing nations," mostly located in the Southern Hemisphere. Among them are influential countries like Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

Russia was excluded from the first summit, but Ukraine said it hoped Moscow could be included in a second round of talks. "If Russian representatives want to attend the second summit, they will attend," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The announcement comes days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kyiv to promote peace.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the war with Russia would eventually end in dialogue, but that Kyiv had to be in a strong position. He said he would present a plan to end the war to US President Joe Biden and his two potential successors.

"The main point of this plan is to force Russia to end the war. And I want that very much (that it would be) fair for Ukraine," he told a news conference.

The Ukrainian leader said Kyiv's three-week-old incursion into Russia's Kursk region was part of that plan, but that it also comprised other steps on the economic and diplomatic fronts.

He did not elaborate on the next steps, but said he would also discuss the plan with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and probably also with Republican Donald Trump, the two candidates in the US presidential election. 

Zelenskyy also said he hoped to travel to the United States in September to attend the UN General Assembly in New York and that he was preparing to meet Biden.

The White House has condemned a Russian missile attack in Ukraine over the weekend that injured Reuters journalists and killed a safety adviser for the news agency.

It also offered Reuters its condolences, a National Security spokesperson said in a post on X. "We condemn this attack in the strongest of terms and extend our deepest condolences to @Reuters on the loss of one of their own," Sean Savett wrote.

Ryan Evans, a member of the Reuters team covering the war in Ukraine, was killed and two Reuters journalists were injured in a strike on a hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the news agency said on Sunday. Evans was working as a safety adviser for the agency.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the hotel had been hit by a Russian Iskander, a ballistic missile capable of striking targets up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) away.

The head of the UN nuclear agency, Rafael Grossi, has said after a visit to Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant that there is a risk of a nuclear accident and that the situation is serious.

"The danger or possibility of a nuclear accident has emerged near here," the International Atomic Energy Agency chief told reporters, referring to fighting in the surrounding Kursk region.

He said the plant was currently operating very close to normal conditions, but that meant the safety situation was even more serious.

According to Grossi, the Kursk nuclear power plant was extremely vulnerable because it had no protective dome.

Russia says the plant has been repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian forces, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) away, following their incursion into Russian territory this month. Ukraine has yet to respond to the allegations.

Ukraine's military recently carried out the first successful test of a domestically produced ballistic missile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

"There has been a positive test of the first Ukrainian ballistic missile. I congratulate our defense industry on this. I can't share any more details about this missile," he said at a press conference.

His announcement in Kyiv came in the wake of two consecutive nights of large-scale Russian bombardments across Ukraine that killed several people and battered energy infrastructure.

Zelenskyy said last week that his forces had deployed in combat for the first time a Ukrainian-made long-range "rocket drone" called Palianytsia.

Ukraine has been trying to develop its own arms industry and promote military production on its own territory, as part of an effort to become less dependent on Western military aid.

Ukraine has said its troops now control 1,294 square kilometers (nearly 500 square miles) and 100 settlements in Russia's Kursk region, where Kyiv's soldiers have been carrying out an incursion since August 6.

Ukraine's top commander, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, also said 594 Russian soldiers have been captured so far and that Ukrainian troops are continuing to advance in the region.

In televised remarks, Syrskyi also said Russia had pulled troops to Kursk and decreased its activity in Ukraine's south, which was one of the avowed objectives of Kyiv's operation.

"The Kursk operation diverted a significant number of its forces," he said.

"As of now, we can say that around 30,000 servicemen have been sent to the Kursk front and this figure is growing," he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone call on Tuesday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, without providing immediate details.

In a posting on X, Modi said the pair had "exchanged perspectives on Russia-Ukraine conflict and my insights from the recent visit to Ukraine."

He also said he had "reiterated India’s firm commitment to support an early, abiding and peaceful resolution of the conflict."

The Indian prime minister also discussed his visit to Kyiv with US President Joe Biden on Monday.

Modi is among the most prominent leaders from a nation that maintains a neutral position on Russia's invasion of Ukraine to visit Kyiv — and his regional tour and repeated calls for talks prompted speculation on whether he had coordinated with any other countries on the issue.

Also on X, Modi said he spoke to Biden about "India's full support for early return of peace and stability" in Ukraine among other issues.

The White House said Biden has commended Modi's engagement with Ukraine and his visit last week to Poland, one of Ukraine's closest Eastern European allies.

"We welcome any other country that wants to help President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy work towards this just peace, and any country that's willing to come at that discussion by starting with President Zelenskyy's perspective, by hearing him out," White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

The Kyiv trip followed Modi's visit to Moscow last month when he met Putin, a trip Zelenskyy had strongly criticized.

India, which has an established relationship with Moscow over decades, has largely steered clear of adopting a firm position on the Russian invasion.

Russia's defense ministry says its forces have captured Orlivka — another village in the eastern Donetsk region near the important logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

"Units of the Centre group of forces as a result of active warfare liberated the settlement of Orlovka," the ministry said, using the Russian name for the village.

Orlivka is a very small rural settlement to the southeast of Pokrovsk, which Ukraine controls, and to the northwest of the city of Donetsk, under Russian control.

First reports have surfaced in Russian Telegram channels with ties to Russia's military of Ukrainian forces trying to breach two border crossings in the Belgorod region in southern Russia.

According to the Mash Telegram channel, two Russian checkpoints were attacked by a combined total of around 500 Ukrainian troops.

The channel said up to 200 Ukrainian soldiers with infantry fighting vehicles had tried to cross the border at Nekhoteyevka, while about 300 Ukrainians attacked the other checkpoint at Shebekino.

Though there has been no immediate official confirmation, Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov has said he was aware of the reports, adding that the situation in the region continued to "remain difficult but under control."  .

"There is information that the enemy is trying to break through the border of the Belgorod region," he wrote, urging people to "remain calm and trust only official sources of information."

Belgorod borders the Kursk region in Russia, where Kyiv's troops are continuing with an incursion that began on August 6, during which some Russian territory has been taken under Ukrainian control.

The head of the United Nations nuclear agency, Rafael Grossi, has arrived at Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant weeks after Ukraine's surprise counteroffensive in the region.

Just after Ukraine launched its offensive, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) urged Russia and Ukraine to exercise "maximum restraint." It implored them to "avoid a nuclear accident with the potential for serious radiological consequences." 

Grossi had said he was "personally in contact with the relevant authorities of both countries." 

He said he would "continue to update the international community as appropriate."

Similar concerns have long surrounded the larger Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which is near the front lines and currently held by Russia, during the conflict.

The Kursk power plant has six units — two in shutdown, two fully operational, and two under construction.

Ukraine's military said Russia launched a series of missile and drone attacks early Tuesday on Kyiv and other regions.

Local officials said two were killed in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, along with damage to homes and businesses. The air defense systems in Kyiv were also deployed overnight due to missile and drone attacks, authorities said on Telegram.

Five civilians were still believed to be under the rubble and four others were injured, said Oleksandr Vilkul, head of Kryvyi Rih's military administration.

The Ukrainian air force confirmed the takeoff of "several Tu-95MS from the Engels airfield." 

This led to air raid alerts being issued across Ukraine on Tuesday, just a day after Russian attacks on the country's power grid which killed at least four. Earlier on Monday, Ukraine had also made advances in Russia's Kursk region.

Russian defense said they had hit "all designated targets" on Ukraine's power grid on Monday. More than 200 missiles and drones were launched during the attacks.
 

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday condemned Russia's attack on the Ukrainian power grid and reiterated US support for Ukraine.

"I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, Russia's continued war against Ukraine and its efforts to plunge the Ukrainian people into darkness. Russia will never succeed in Ukraine, and the spirit of the Ukrainian people will never be broken," he said.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called the attack "cowardly."

The German foreign ministry issued a statement saying that "once again, Putin's Russia is saturating Ukraine's lifelines with missiles."

At least four were killed in Russia's drone and missile attacks on Monday, which Ukrainian officials called the largest attack by Moscow in weeks.