• Russian defense officials have reported battles with Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region, marking one of the largest incursions into Russian territory since the war began.
• Ukrainian forces launched a counterattack on Tuesday, with battles continuing into Wednesday near the border town of Sudzha.
• President Vladimir Putin described the Kursk attack as a “major provocation” by the Kyiv regime during a meeting with the Russian government.

Russia said on Wednesday that it was fighting intense battles against Ukrainian forces which had penetrated the Kursk region near a major natural gas transmission hub in one of the largest incursions into Russia since the war began in February 2022.

Russia has advanced this year after the failure of Ukraine’s 2023 counteroffensive to achieve any major gains, and has taken 162 sq miles of territory from Ukrainian forces since June 14, Russian officials said.

Ukraine struck back on Tuesday – and the battles continued through the night into Wednesday as Ukrainian forces pushed to the northwest of the border town of Sudzha, 330 miles southwest of Moscow, Russia’s defense ministry said.

KYIV’S FORCES ARE UP AGAINST A CONCERTED RUSSIAN PUSH IN EASTERN UKRAINE, A MILITARY OFFICIAL SAYS

“The Kyiv regime has launched another major provocation,” President Vladimir Putin told members of the Russian government about the Kursk attack.

Sudzha is the last operational trans-shipping point for Russian natural gas to Europe via Ukraine: the Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod pipeline carried about 14.65 billion cubic meters of gas in 2023, or about half of Russia’s natural gas exports to Europe.

Ukraine’s gas transmission operator said Russian natural gas was transiting to European consumers normally. Just 60 km away to the northeast is Russia’s Kursk nuclear power station.

The battles around Sudzha come at a crucial juncture in the conflict, the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two. Ukraine is losing territory and Kyiv is deeply concerned that U.S. support could drop off if Donald Trump wins the November election in the United States.

A damaged house is seen following what authorities called a Ukrainian military strike in the town of Sudzha in the Kursk Region, Russia, in this handout image released on Aug. 6, 2024. (Acting Governor of Kursk Region Alexei Smirnov via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS)

Trump has said he would end the war, so both Russia and Ukraine are keen to gain the strongest possible bargaining position on the battlefield while pinning down Russian forces and showing the West that it can still mount major battles.

KURSK BATTLES

Russian military bloggers reported intense battles, with some suggesting that Ukraine had opened a new front. Ukraine has not commented on the battles. Russia sent reserves to help shore up Russian defenses.

The chief of Russia’s general staff, Valery Gerasimov, told Putin that Russian forces were battling Ukrainian forces near the border and that Russia would push them back to the border.

Russia’s defense ministry said it had already destroyed 50 armored vehicles, including seven tanks, eight armored personnel carriers, three infantry fighting vehicles and 31 armored combat vehicles in the area.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with Russian Government members at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence, on Aug. 7, 2024. Russia said on Wednesday that it was fighting intense battles against Ukrainian forces which had penetrated the Kursk region near a major natural gas transmission hub in one of the largest incursions into Russia since the war began in February 2022. (SERGEI BOBYLYOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Putin said Ukrainian forces were firing “indiscriminately” at a range of civilian targets in the region, and said that he would shortly have a meeting with top defense ministry and Federal Security Service officials.

Both Kyiv and Moscow say they do not target civilians in the war, triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly two and a half years ago.

Russian Telegram channels carried unverified footage of shelled houses. Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of the Kursk region, said there were casualties but gave no exact toll, and called on citizens to donate blood.

Forces describing themselves as voluntary paramilitaries fighting on Ukraine’s side penetrated parts of Belgorod and Kursk regions this year, triggering a major push by Russian troops to carve out a buffer zone in Ukraine’s northeast.

Spain’s governing coalition could be at risk if separatist is arrested on return from seven-year exile.

Catalan separatist Carles Puigdemont has announced he is headed back to Spain following seven years in self-imposed exile.

The former leader of the Catalonia region said on Wednesday that he is set to travel to the country. Police have said they are ready to arrest him, which would threaten to spur fresh unrest in Catalonia and potentially destabilise the governing coalition in Madrid.

The 61-year-old Puigdemont, who has been living in Belgium, did not say in his announcement when or how he would arrive in Spain. He faces several charges linked to his role in the region’s 2017 independence bid, which included the organisation of an illegal referendum.

“I have started the return trip from exile,” he said in a video posted on X, adding that he intended to attend Thursday’s parliamentary session in Barcelona at which Socialist Salvador Illa is due to be appointed as the new Catalan president. That will end more than 10 years of separatist governments in the northeastern Spanish region.

The event is likely to attract a significant number of supporters for the hardline separatist.

Although Puigdemont did not disclose how he would travel or where he would enter Spain, Catalonia’s regional police said they intend to obey court orders to arrest him if he appears.

Puigdemont said he recognised that he “cannot attend freely” the scheduled parliamentary session and accused authorities of “a long persecution”.

“This challenge must be answered and confronted,” he said.

Fresh turmoil

Puigdemont’s potential arrest and imprisonment threatens to unleash fresh turmoil in Catalonia.

It could also destabilise the fragile Socialist-led coalition ruling Spain, which relies on Puigdemont’s hardline Junts party to pass legislation.

As a condition set by Junts for its legislative support for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government, Spain’s parliament in May approved an amnesty law aimed at allowing Puigdemont’s return from Belgium by cancelling legal proceedings against hundreds of separatists.

However, the Spainish Supreme Court said last month that amnesty should not apply to a charge of embezzlement against Puigdemont, and upheld the arrest warrant against him.