Russia Ukraine war live: Kyiv uses US rockets on bridges in Kursk as Putin sends in priests to bless firemen

Russian authorities in the western Kursk region have begun installing concrete shelters to help protect civilians amid an ongoing Ukrainian incursion, the acting regional governor said on Thursday.

Governor Alexei Smirnov wrote on Telegram that city officials in Kursk, the regional capital, were installing the shelters in crowded places, including in 60 bus stations. Similar shelters will be placed in two other towns, he said

A Russian soldier blew up his assault unit’s headquarters before escaping and defecting to Ukraine, Kyiv has revealed.

The soldier, an FPV drone pilot identified only by his call-sign “Silver”, said the operation was meticulously planned with Ukraine’s military intelligence and the Freedom of Russia Legion, a pro-Kyiv Russian partisan group.

Footage showed the moment Silver threw a grenade into a basement where his commander and fellow officers were sleeping, before he disappeared amidst the confusion.

Vladimir Putin’s forces prevented a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance team from piercing the border in the western Bryansk region, about 240 km (150 miles) from Kursk, a Russian official claimed.

Bryansk governor Alexander Bogomaz said troops repelled Kyiv’s attack in the region on Wednesday, with Moscow claiming it had began to push back Ukrainian forces in Kursk.

He said the attempted incursion took place in the Klimovo district which borders Ukraine’s Chernihiv region. The Bryansk region lies northwest of the Kursk region where a Ukrainian incursion has been underway since early August.

Ukraine smashed through the Russian border in the Kursk region on Aug. 6 in an attempt to force Moscow to divert troops from the rest of the front, though Russian forces have continued to advance in eastern Ukraine in recent days.

Vladimir Putin met with Chinese premier Li Qiang yesterday as he hailed growing trade relations between the two countries, even as Moscow has become increasingly dependent on Beijing for political and economic support.

“Our trade relations are developing, developing successfully… The attention that the governments of the two countries on both sides are paying to trade and economic ties is yielding results,” Mr Putin said at the meeting in the Kremlin.

He also said that Russia and China have developed “large-scale plans” for economic and other projects.

“Chinese-Russian relations are at an unprecedentedly high level,” said Mr Li, who earlier had met with his Russian counterpart, prime minister Mikhail Mishustin.

The meeting took place as Russia struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region now in its third week. And overnight, Moscow experienced one of the largest waves of drone attacks on the Russian capital since the start of the Ukraine conflict.

Russian news reports did not indicate whether Mr Putin discussed Ukraine with Mr Li.

Russian forces prevented a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance team from piercing the border in the western Bryansk region, about 240km (150 miles) from the site of Ukraine’s incursion into the neighbouring Kursk region, a Russian official said.

Bryansk governor Alexander Bogomaz said that Federal Security Service border guards and Russian military units repelled an attack by a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance team yesterday.

He said the attempted incursion took place in the Klimovo district which borders Ukraine’s Chernihiv region. The Bryansk region lies northwest of the Kursk region where a Ukrainian incursion has been underway since early August.

Ukraine smashed through the Russian border in the Kursk region on 6 August in an attempt to force Moscow to divert troops from the rest of the front, though Russian forces have continued to advance in eastern Ukraine in recent days.

This comes as Russia’s defence ministry said it had shot down 28 drones over Russian territory in the early hours today, including 13 in the Volgograd region, seven in Rostov, four in Belgorod, two in Voronezh and one each in Bryansk and Kursk regions.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu said after talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday that Berlin’s support for her country strengthened neighbouring Ukraine and security in the region.

She also said Moldova was open for investment and invited German businesses to participate in the country’s first tender for renewable energy production.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is set to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky in a historic visit tomorrow to Ukraine, a month and a half after he travelled to Moscow to hold talks with president Vladimir Putin.

Officials in India and Ukraine have said the visit will focus on boosting economic ties and cooperation in defence, science and technology.

Modi’s landmark visit is the first to Ukraine from a prime minister of India since the country established diplomatic relations with Ukraine over 30 years ago. He will arrive in Kyiv after a two-day visit to Poland.

Analysts say the timing of the trip is aimed at controlling fallout from the Indian leader’s 8-9 July trip to Russia.

The visit could also be an attempt to have India strike a more neutral stance after what has been seen as a lean toward Russia, given Modi’s recent Moscow visit, his country’s historic, Cold War-era relationship with Russia and New Delhi’s avoidance of directly criticising Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

A fire broke out at a military facility in Russia’s southern Volgograd region after a Ukrainian drone crashed into it on Thursday, regional governor Andrei Bocharov said on Telegram.

The Russian official claimed there were no casualties and did not specify what facility had been attacked, but said the attack focused on the area of the Marinovka village, where a military airbase is located.

Orthodox priests deployed an icon at the scene of a huge fuel depot fire – raging since Sunday in southern after a Ukrainian drone attack – hoping it would help tame its flames, the local diocese said yesterday.

The icon of the Unburnt Bush is considered by Christians in Russia as a talisman against fire.

The fire at the Proletarsk fuel depot in Rostov has been burning since Sunday despite a major operation by Russian firefighters to douse it.

“The (priests) spoke with the firefighters and blessed all the fire equipment,” the local Volgodonsk eparchy told Reuters in emailed comments.

An image released yesterday showed two Orthodox priests standing in a field on either side of a wooden stand holding the large icon as a thick plume of black and grey smoke rose into the sky from the depot behind them.

Local people have complained on social media about how polluted the air has become due to the fire. The authorities have said the level of harmful substances in the air is within permitted norms.

Around 20 of 74 storage tanks were on fire, the RIA news agency reported on Tuesday, citing local administration boss Valery Gornich. More than 500 firefighters were tackling the blaze, he said.

Vasily Golubev, the regional governor, said on Monday that 41 firefighters had sought medical treatment, including five who had been placed in emergency care.