Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin launches counterattack in Kursk as US and UK pledge $1.5bn in funding for Kyiv
Russian forces are now fighting back Ukraine’s incursion in Kursk, more than a month after Kyiv’s troops stunned Vladimir Putin and seized a large swathe of the Russian region.
The counterattack started along Kursk’s western edge, allowing Russia’s more combat-experienced troops to reportedly take back several settlements in the past 48 hours, the US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War said.
In response, Ukrainian forces are fighting back and have initiated new attacks of their own, the ISW said.
The update from Kursk comes as the US and the UK pledged nearly $1.5bn for Ukraine in humanitarian aid, assistance and loan guarantees during talks in Kyiv, but could not clear the use of long-range missile strikes inside Russia.
Volodymyr Zelensky has been pleading with Kyiv’s allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles including long-range US ATACMS and British Storm Shadows deep into Russian territory to limit Moscow’s ability to launch attacks.
