Extract from ABC News
In short:
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday Ukraine's army was advancing in the Russian region of Kursk, where it launched a surprise offensive last week.
Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had captured "more than 100 Russian servicemen" and ordered his generals to develop the next "key steps".
What's next?
Ukraine plans to create a "security zone" in the region, organising humanitarian assistance and evacuation corridors for civilians looking to go to either Russia or to Ukraine.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv's forces were continuing to advance in the Russian region of Kursk, with plans to organise evacuation corridors for civilians.
"We continue to advance further in Kursk region. From one to two kilometres in various areas since the start of the day," he said on Wednesday local time.
Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had captured "more than 100 Russian servicemen" over the same period and that this would "speed up the return home of our boys and girls".
He also ordered his generals to develop the next "key steps" of the operation.
Later, in his nightly address, Mr Zelenskyy referred to the growing number of Russian prisoners of war.
"Our advance in the Kursk region is going well today – we are reaching our strategic goal. The 'exchange fund' for our state has also been significantly replenished."
Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said Ukrainian forces were creating a "buffer zone" in the region while continuing their offensive.
"The creation of a buffer zone in the Kursk region is a step to protect our border communities from daily hostile shelling," he wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.
It comes as Ukraine plans to create a "security zone" in the region, organising humanitarian assistance and evacuation corridors for civilians looking to go to either Russia or to Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Wednesday.
She added that Ukraine planned to organise access to the area for international humanitarian organisations as well.
Ukrainian officials said they were also advancing on further Russian territory.
Ukraine military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said the Russian border town of Sudzha was fully under Ukrainian control.
"The search and destruction of the enemy in the settlement of Sudzha has been completed," he said.
Ukraine's state television showed troops pulling down a Russian flag from an official building in Sudzha, which is a transhipment hub for Russian natural gas flowing to Europe via Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russia has refuted Mr Zelenskyy's announcement that Ukrainian forces were advancing in five areas.
"The attempts by enemy mobile units using armoured equipment to break through deeper into Russian territory have been repelled," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine carries out largest drone attack on Russian air bases, sources say
Russia said on Wednesday that it had destroyed 117 Ukrainian drones in Russia on Tuesday night—mostly in the Kursk, Voronezh and Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod regions.
It said missiles had also been shot down and showed Sukhoi Su-34 bombers striking Ukrainian positions in Kursk.
A Ukrainian security source told AFP the night marked the "largest attack on Russian military airfields in the entire war".
The attack on four air bases — in Russia's Voronezh, Kursk, Savasleyka and Borisoglebsk regions — was aimed at undermining Russia's ability to use warplanes for gliding bomb attacks, the security source added.
Ukraine is reportedly still assessing the scale of the damage.
Russia's National Guard said it was beefing up security at the Kursk nuclear power plant, which is just 35 kilometres from the fighting.
Neighbouring Belgorod declared a state of emergency, as its governor warned the situation there was "extremely difficult" due to Ukrainian shelling and drone attacks.
Incursion marks biggest gains for Ukraine since 2022
Kyiv blindsided Moscow by pouring thousands of troops into the western Russian region of Kursk last week, causing a federal emergency to be declared.
The surprise operation has given Ukraine its biggest battlefield gains since Russia's 2022 invasion.
Mr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine launched the incursion into Russian territory to "restore justice" after months on the backfoot.
On Tuesday, Kyiv offered to stop raids if Moscow agreed to a "just peace".
A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said added that Kyiv had no intention of occupying the Russian territory it says it is holding.
This includes 74 settlements in Kursk, according to the Ukrainian military.
Russia controls 18 per cent of Ukrainian territory and has been advancing in recent months.
By bringing the war to Russia, Ukraine has forced nearly 200,000 Russians to evacuate border regions near the site of the World War II battle of Kursk — where the Red Army defeated Nazi forces in 1943.
Kyiv says it has taken control of more than 1,000 square kilometres of territory so far.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to hit back at Ukraine with a "worthy response" and accused Kyiv's "Western masters" of helping Ukraine.
Russian politician Maria Butina said on Wednesday local time that the West was "poking the bear" while alleging Ukraine-allied countries were involved in the latest incursion.
The White House said Ukraine did not provide advance notice of its incursion and had no involvement in the operation.
US President Joe Biden said US officials were in constant touch with Ukraine over the invasion of Russia, which he said had "created a real dilemma" for Mr Putin.
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