Summary

  • President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed for the first time that the Ukrainian military is conducting a cross-border offensive inside Russia's western Kursk region

  • Late Saturday night, Zelensky said Ukraine was pushing the war onto "the aggressor's territory"

  • Russia's foreign ministry says its army will deliver a "tough response" to the incursion

  • On Tuesday, Kyiv launched the surprise attack and has advanced more than 10km (six miles) inside Russia

  • Russia says 76,000 people have been evacuated from border areas in the Kursk region

  • This is the deepest raid into the country since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022

  • Kyiv and several other regions came under a Russian drone and missile attack overnight, killing two, local officials said

  1. Moscow vows to respond as Ukraine pushes inside Russiapublished at 16:28 British Summer Time 11 August

    A map depicting the border between Ukraine and Russia. Kharkiv, Sudzha and Kursk are marked

    Today we've been focussing on developments in the Ukraine war, following President Zelensky's confirmation that Kyiv is carrying out an offensive inside Russia, which was launched on Tuesday.

    We're soon going to be closing our coverage for the day, but here's the key things you need to know for the day:

    • President Zelensky confirmed in his nightly video address on Saturday that Kyiv was carrying out a cross-border offensive into Russia
    • At the time of his address, the Ukrainian advances into western Kursk region had penetrated more than 10km (six miles) past the border - making it the furthest since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022
    • On Sunday, Russia appeared to acknowledge that Ukrainian forces had advanced still further. Its defence ministry said it engaged Ukrainian troops near towns 25km and 30km from the border
    • Moscow has vowed a "tough" response to the incursion and a Ukrainian missile strike on a residential building in Kursk that it said injured at least 11, the foreign ministry said
    • Earlier, the Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had shot down 35 drones and four rockets overnight that it said was fired by "the Kyiv regime"
    • Ukraine in turn reported to have shot down 53 of 57 attack drones last night
    • They released more details of two deaths in Kyiv overnight - a father and his four-year-old son were killed when a rocket fragment fell on residential houses. Three more were injured according to emergency services
    • BBC Verify has been working to confirm details of footage that is coming through from Russia. You can watch a video showing destroyed Russian convoy here and Ukrainian soldiers removing a Russian flag from a building here

    Thank you for joining our live coverage. This page was written by Cachella Smith and Jaroslav Lukiv and was edited by Johanna Chisholm.

  2. Russia builds extra defences near nuclear plantpublished at 16:25 British Summer Time 11 August

    Benedict Garman
    BBC Verify

    A digger helping to construct new defensive lines in KurskImage source, Telegram

    Russia appears to be building new defensive trench lines in the Kursk region, not far from a nuclear power plant.

    A video filmed from a moving vehicle and analysed by BBC Verify shows heavy machinery next to a long line of piled earth running parallel to the E38 road, just south-east of the Kursk nuclear plant.

    Contrasting satellite imagery of the same location captured yesterday with imagery from a few days earlier shows what seem to be several newly constructed trench lines in the vicinity, with the nearest roughly 8km (5 miles) from the power station.

    On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) urged "all sides to exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid a nuclear accident".

    A comparison of satellite images captured on 6 August and 10 August 2024 by Planet Labs PBCImage source, Planet Labs PBC
    Image caption,

    A comparison of satellite images captured on 6 August and 10 August 2024 by Planet Labs PBC

  3. In pictures: The scene from Kyiv region following overnight air strikespublished at 15:44 British Summer Time 11 August

    More pictures are now filtering through from Ukraine, where this morning we heard of air strikes overnight.

    That attack killed two people and injured three, including a 12-year-old boy, according to emergency services.

    The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office says three were hospitalised with various injuries and that residential buildings, farm buildings and vehicles were damaged.

    Here, you can take a look at what some of that damage in the Kyiv region looked like this morning.

    Two men stand in the structure of a building among debrisImage source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
    An overturned car among debrisImage source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
    Two men lift a wardrobe against the backdrop of a damaged houseImage source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
    A destroyed car on the side of the road with people behindImage source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
  4. BBC Verify

    Ukrainians targeted in Russian village of Cherkasskoe Porechnoepublished at 15:11 British Summer Time 11 August

    An aerial shot of an attack is seen with smoke plumes overheadImage source, Zvezdanews

    By Benedict Garman

    BBC Verify has located the scenes pictured in two images we published earlier, which were provided by the Russian Defence Ministry via Reuters news agency.

    The photos are frames from two videos of strikes on Ukrainian vehicles in the village of Cherkasskoe Porechnoe in Kursk Oblast, and show sections of road roughly 200m (656ft) apart.

    The videos were first published online yesterday, but fire monitoring data from Nasa's FIRMS service - which tracks and logs heat signatures on the Earth's surface - shows fires at and around these locations on Friday, suggesting it happened then.

    One of the videos also shows another vehicle burning roughly 1km (0.6 miles) further along the road into the village.

    This is just under 15km (9.3 miles) into Russia as the crow flies from the nearest section of border with Ukraine.

  5. More injured in new Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod region - Russian governorpublished at 15:02 British Summer Time 11 August

    The governor of Russia's western Belgorod region, also on the border with Ukraine, says at least one civilian - a man - was injured in the latest Ukrainian attacks on three settlements.

    Vyacheslav Gladkov says preliminary information suggested the man in the town of Shebekino had leg and forearm wounds, and was now being transported to the regional capital Belgorod for treatment.

    He did not say what weapons were used in the attack.

    The governor also says two buildings were damaged in Ukrainian drone attacks in two villages in the region.

    In an earlier post on Telegram, Gladkov said four civilians were injured today in Shebekino - three of whom were taken to a regional hospital with shrapnel wounds.

    The fourth was taken to the central district hospital.

  6. Dozens of military vehicles featuring white triangle spotted near borderpublished at 14:33 British Summer Time 11 August

    Two tanks on a dirt trackImage source, Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters
    Image caption,

    Ukrainian tanks near the Russian border

    Reports are coming through now that dozens of armoured Ukrainian vehicles featuring a white triangle have been seen around Sumy - the border area where Kyiv launched its offensive on Russia.

    Journalists from the AFP news agency have seen various military vehicles with the same white insignia. The agency says the triangles are apparently used to identify hardware used for the ongoing offensive.

    Map showing the border between Ukraine and Russia. Points out Kursk, Sudzha, Sumy and Kharkiv
  7. Russia continuing to repel Ukraine's attempted invasion - defence ministrypublished at 13:58 British Summer Time 11 August

    In its latest report, the Russian Defence Ministry says its troops are "continuing to repel an attempted invasion" by Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region.

    It says "attempts by mobile enemy groups to break through on armoured vehicles deep into Russia territory" have been foiled.

    The ministry mentions three locations in the Kursk region - ranging from between 25km (15 miles) and 30km (19 miles) from the border with Ukraine - where it says Ukrainian forces were hit.

    It adds that Ukraine lost 230 military personnel and 38 armoured vehicles in the past 24 hours.

    The Russian claims have not been independently verified. This report is very similar to those issued in previous days.

  8. Photos reveal scale of destruction in Kursk, where residential building was hitpublished at 13:30 British Summer Time 11 August

    We reported earlier claims by Russian officials that 13 people were injured late on Saturday when the wreckage of a downed Ukrainian missile fell on a multi-storey building in Kursk's regional capital, Kursk.

    That number has now gone up - 15 people are known to have been injured, according to regional governor Aleksei Smirnov, who says they are all being currently treated.

    And we now have photos showing the destruction.

    Blown out windows and damaged balconies on several floors of a building in the city of KurskImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Windows were blown out and balconies damaged on several floors of the building in Kursk

    A destroyed car is seen next to a damaged building in Russia's city of KurskImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    A destroyed car and debris are seen just outside the building

    Smirnov now says temporary accommodation has been offered to the affected residents - but they have decided to move to their relatives' houses instead.

    The residents will also get compensation, Smirnov adds.

  9. BBC Verify

    Ukrainian soldiers film themselves in Russian villagespublished at 13:06 British Summer Time 11 August

    Media caption,

    Ukrainian soldiers raise Ukrainian flag in Russian village

    By Emma Pengelly and Benedict Garman

    A group of soldiers have filmed themselves raising a Ukrainian flag while trampling a Russian one in a video uploaded to social media this morning and located by BBC Verify to an administrative building in the village of Guevo, in the Kursk region of Russia.

    This village is just over 3km (1.8 miles) into Russia.

    It's one of several videos BBC Verify has analysed showing Ukrainian soldiers in Russian settlements in the Kursk and Belgorod regions since the incursion began six days ago.

    Another, published yesterday, shows a Russian flag being torn from an administration building in Sverdlikovo, while two others, also published in recent days, are confirmed by BBC Verify to show Ukrainian troops in Poroz and outside a gas distribution branch in Sudzha.

    These videos are recently indexed by search engines, and therefore likely to have been recently uploaded to the internet, but it's unclear precisely when they were filmed.

  10. Analysis

    Sumy activity suggests this is more than a smash and grabpublished at 12:44 British Summer Time 11 August

    James Waterhouse
    BBC Ukraine Correspondent in the Sumy region

    Since Russian forces tried and failed to capture territory here in 2022, the northern Sumy region had experienced a relative reprieve from the fighting.

    Over recent months, that started to change as Russian forces both gathered on the border and increased air strikes.

    It’s in this part of the country that Ukraine now seems to be seizing the initiative seizing the initiative 50km from where we are.

    The steady flow of personnel carriers, tanks and supply trucks suggests they are committed to this offensive as well.

    “It’s a good a thing, they need to be punished,” says Liubov, a caretaker at a village school towards the Russian border.

    She’s helping clear debris from a glide bomb that landed next to the main building. There’s a large crater outside the entrance.

    This week, Ukrainian military expert Mykhaylo Samus repeated his claim that Kyiv “can seize the initiative from Russia only in a non-standard way, asymmetrically”.

    After acknowledging the cross-border offensive for the first time last night, it seems President Zelensky was thinking the same.

  11. Russia vows 'tough response' to Ukraine attackspublished at 12:26 British Summer Time 11 August

    We're receiving some fresh reaction from Russia, with officials vowing a "tough response" to Ukraine's latest reported attacks on several regions in the country, in addition to the Moscow-controlled part of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.

    Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said in a statement: "The Kyiv regime is continuing its terrorist activity with the sole purpose of intimidating the peaceful population of Russia."

    She adds that Ukraine "understands perfectly well" that the recent attacks "make no sense from a military point of view".

    The Russian spokeswoman mentioned several attacks in the past 24 hours, including what she said was a "massive" overnight strike on the regional capital Kursk.

    Earlier, the local governor for Kursk said 13 people had been injured when the wreckage of a Ukrainian missile fell on the multi-storey building in the city.

    Maria ZakharovaImage source, Reuters
  12. Aerial images show Ukrainian tanks in Kursk regionpublished at 12:09 British Summer Time 11 August

    We're getting some of the latest images through on the news desk now, which show what is said to be a Ukrainian tank firing on something inside Russia in the Kursk region.

    These aerial images have come from the Russian Defence Ministry through Reuters news agency. They have not been verified by the BBC.

    An aerial view of two tanks, one appears to be firingImage source, Russian Defence Ministry/Reuters
    Image caption,

    Aerial view of what is said to be a firing Ukrainian tank

    An aerial view what is said to be a burning Ukrainian tank following a Russian army strikeImage source, Russian Defence Ministry/Reuters
    Image caption,

    Aerial view of what is said to be a burning Ukrainian tank following a Russian army strike

  13. Ukraine's air force says 53 drones shot down overnightpublished at 11:49 British Summer Time 11 August

    Some updated figures now on the overnight attack that Russia carried out across Ukraine last night.

    Ukraine's Air Force has recently said that they shot down 53 of 57 attack drones (UAVs).

    A post on the force's Telegram account lists a number of regions where the drones were destroyed, including Odesa, Kyiv, Sumy and Cherkasy.

    It also goes on to say that four North Korean missiles were used as part of the attack, a report that the BBC was unable to verify.

    This update does not specify what happened to those four, but it went on to claim that those kinds of projectiles rarely reach the desired targets.

    Earlier, President Zelensky said the overnight attack just east of the capital that killed two people involved a North Korean-made missile.

    Men are seen at a site of a residential building heavily damaged during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Rozhivka in Kyiv region, Ukraine August 1Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Men are seen at a site of a residential building heavily damaged during a Russian missile strike in the village of Rozhivka in Kyiv region on 11 August

  14. Analysis

    Ukraine's incursion shows Russia's war is not going to planpublished at 11:24 British Summer Time 11 August

    Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) chairs a meeting with members of the Russian Security Council at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, Russia,Image source, SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

    As we've been reporting this morning, Ukraine's cross-border offensive into Russia began last Tuesday.

    Before Zelensky's confirmation of the incursion last night, our Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg had considered how the war has progressed since Moscow's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

    "The expectation was that it would take a matter of days, a few weeks maximum, for Russia to establish control over its neighbour," Rosenberg writes.

    "That was nearly two-and-a-half years ago.

    "The war in Ukraine rages on. It has not gone at all as Moscow had intended."

    • You can read his full analysis here.
  15. Timeline: How did Ukraine's cross-border offensive begin?published at 10:52 British Summer Time 11 August

    Over the course of the past week, Russia has been struggling to contain a Ukrainian offensive - now in its sixth day - in the country's western Kursk region.

    Here's what is known about how the surprise cross-border incursion has been unfolding:

    • 6 August: Russia says up to 1,000 Ukrainian troops - backed by tanks and other armoured vehicles - cross the border early in the morning
    • 7 August: Unverified videos emerge of what are believed to be Ukrainian military vehicles moving in, and dozens of Russian border guards surrendering with a white flag
    • A State of emergency is declared in the Kursk region
    • Russian President Vladimir Putin says the Kursk incursion is a "major provocation" and holds crisis talks with the country's top military and security officials
    • 8 August: Ukrainian soldiers are reported to have seized several Russian villages
    • 9 August: Footage emerges of a destroyed large Russian military convoy in the Kursk region, and a separate video of Ukrainian soldiers claiming to have seized the regional town of Sudzha. BBC Verify later confirms the locations of the two recordings
    • 9 August: Russia's defence ministry says reinforcements - including tanks and other heavy armour - are being sent to Kursk
    • 10 August: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged for the first time his military is conducting a cross-border offensive - without naming the Kursk region

    Kyiv's offensive has now advanced more than 10km (six miles) inside Russia, making it the deepest raid since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

    Map of the Ukrainian offensive is seen from an aerial perspective.
  16. Watch: Ukrainian soldiers remove Russian flag from council buildingpublished at 10:32 British Summer Time 11 August

    We're continuing to get some more video footage and pictures from inside Russia.

    In this latest clip, you can see two soldiers who appear to be dressed in a Ukrainian uniform in Sverdlikovo, a village in the Kursk region. The BBC was able to verify the location of this video.

    The pair can then be seen removing a Russian flag from the side of a council building.

  17. Russia's Belgorod governor reports 11 injured in Ukraine attackspublished at 10:11 British Summer Time 11 August

    We can now bring you some more details about the Ukrainian drone attacks and shelling that have taken place in Russia over the past 24 hours.

    The governor of Russia's western Belgorod region - on the border with Ukraine - says 11 people were injured.

    In a post on Telegram, Vyacheslav Gladkov adds that a number of private residential houses and other buildings were damaged in the attack. Vehicles across the region were also damaged.

  18. Watch: Verified video shows destroyed Russian convoypublished at 09:51 British Summer Time 11 August

    BBC Verify has recently looked at an online video that shows footage of a heavily-damaged Russian convoy in Kursk.

    The video was filmed at around 06:00 local time, as seen from the direction and length of the shadows, and first began being shared online on Friday morning.

    It was filmed along the E38 road through the town of Oktyabr'skoe, roughly 38km (24 miles) from Russian's southern border with Ukraine.

    The footage shows destroyed military vehicles lining the side of the road - inside some are injured or dead soldiers.

    The uploader of the video has been detained by Russian authorities.

    Media caption,

    Warning: This video may contain distressing images

  19. In pictures: Ukraine's border offensive throughout the weekpublished at 09:36 British Summer Time 11 August

    On Tuesday, Ukraine's rare border offensive into Russia began, with up to 1,000 troops, supported by tanks and armoured vehicles, entering the Kursk region, Moscow said.

    Here, we've pulled together some of the pictures we have received as we enter the sixth day of Ukraine's surprise attack.

    Men, one in protective gear, stand among rubble with the scene lit up by artificial lightImage source, State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Reuters
    Image caption,

    Rescuers stand on a site in the Kyiv region following residential buildings being damaged and two deaths during a Russian military strike on 11 August

    A burnt car stands among rubble and damaged buildingsImage source, Russian Emergencies Ministry/Reuters
    Image caption,

    Local authorities say an apartment building in Kursk was damaged by debris from a downed Ukraine-launched missile on 11 August

    Two women walking alongside specialists from the Russian Emergencies MinistryImage source, Russian Emergencies Ministry/Reuters
    Image caption,

    Residents in the Kursk region continue to be evacuated following the Ukrainian incursion, as seen here on 9 August

    Landscape shot of a house and surrounding buildings that have been hitImage source, IZ.RU/Reuters
    Image caption,

    Buildings in Sudzha - a town in the Kursk region - are seen on 7 August. The Ukrainians are reportedly seizing a number of villages, and are also threatening the regional town of Sudzha

  20. Father and son killed in Russian attack in Kyiv region - local officialspublished at 09:21 British Summer Time 11 August

    Rescuers comb through the wreckage of a house following a Russian attack in the Kyiv region. Photo: 11 August 2024Image source, Reuters

    In Ukraine overnight, a 35-year-old man and his four-year-old son were killed in the Kyiv region when a rocket fragment fell on residential houses, emergency services have said early on Sunday.

    Three more people were injured, including a 13-year-old child, in the Brovary area (rayon).

    On Saturday night, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko posted on Telegram that air defence units were "operating" in the capital and warned civilians to stay in shelters.

    Several other Ukrainian regions also came under Russian rocket and drone attack overnight.