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UKRAINE is attempting a second surge into Russia with troops eyeing the Beglorod region after cracking into Kursk.
Kyiv’s forces are said to be attacking border checkpoints as the Kremlin army fires back to desperately defend their soil from more territory takeover.
Belgorod has come under attack before with strikes hitting the region in December 2023EPA/RUSSIAN EMERGENCIES MINISTRY HANDOUT
Evacuated Russian citizens from Belgorod and Kursk arrive at temporary accommodationEPA/RUSSIAN EMERGENCIES MINISTRY HANDOUT
Ukrainian troops attack an armoured vehicle in Russia’s Belgorod region earlier in August
A Ukrainian tank rumbles through the Sumy region, near the border with RussiaPhoto by Roman PILIPEY / AFPBelgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the Ukrainians were trying to “break through the border”, citing Vlad’s defence ministry.
He said: “According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the situation on the border remains difficult but under control.
“Our military is carrying out planned work. Please remain calm and trust only official sources of information.”
Rumours of heated Ukrainian attacks are also swirling on Telegram.
As many as 300 of Volodymyr Zelensky‘s men have launched towards the Shebekino border crossing, with another 200 to the west Nekhoteyevka, according to Telegram channel Mash.
The town centre of Belgorod is a 38km march (23.6miles) from the Nekhoteyevka checkpoint.
Reports vary on Telegram with another channel, Shot, claiming there was no fighting at Shebekino and Ukrainians were pushed back in Nekhoteyevka.
Ukraine’s surge into Kursk – where it now claims 500 square miles of territory – had already threatened to spill over into Belgorod.
Belgorod citizens were urged to take shelter just days after the surprise Kursk incursion.
Governor Gladkov wrote in a Telegram message: “The entire territory of the Belgorod region is a MISSILE DANGER.
“Go down to the basement. Stay there until you receive the signal ‘all clear missile danger.'”
Around 11,000 people were evacuated from the Krasnoyaruzhsky district in Belgorod, Russian outlet TASS reported.
On Ukraine’s side of the border, Vlad launched a major attack on overnight – for the second night running – unleashing hundreds of drones and missiles.
Fifteen regions were hit and at least seven were killed.
Authorities said a hotel was blown away in the central city of Kryvyi, killing two, with two more dying in drone attacks in the embattled Zaporizhzhia in the country’s southeast.
Ukraine was also forced to intercept strikes bound for capital city Kyiv.
Fierce fighting boils on in Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s east as Vlad vies to take the high-priority Donetsk town.
It is being hotly fought over because it sits in vicinity of Ukrainian supply lines.
Moment Ukrainian gunship helicopter blasts Putin’s deadly drone out of the sky
DRAMATIC footage has captured the moment a Ukrainian attack helicopter shoots a Russian drone out of the sky.
The chopper chases down a Shahed-136, known as a kamikaze drone, as the gunman tracks its path.
Gaining a clear line of sight, the Kyiv troop then opens fire with the helicopter’s machine gun.
The drone immediately starts emitting a thick trail of smoke as a barrage of bullets blast into it.
Within eight seconds, it starts to plunge from the skies.
Other angles of the attack show the drone plummeting to the ground before it blows up on impact.
A cloud of smoke rises into the air in a Ukrainian triumph.
Shahed drones, designed and built in Iran, are flown in the air to attack ground targets from a distance.
Russia has commonly used them in its invasion, particularly to target important infrastructure.
The US has previously accused Iran of gifting Vlad hundreds of them for his cruel attack on Ukraine.
The Kremlin’s deadly strikes are set to keep igniting debate over whether Kyiv should be allowed to use Western weapons to strike deep within Russia, where they say attacks are being launched from.
US President Joe Biden moved to assure Zelensky that their bond was “unshakeable” in the wake of the attacks.
He added: “Ukrainian officials report that this outrageous attack resulted in the deaths of Ukrainian civilians and targeted more than two dozen critical energy sites.
“Let me be clear: Russia will never succeed in Ukraine, and the spirit of the Ukrainian people will never be broken.”
A Ukrainian MP from Kharkiv told Sky News it appeared the bombardments were designed to crush the spirit of the people.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy took to X to slam the Kremlin for the attacks.
He said: “The UK utterly condemns Russia’s cowardly missile and drone attacks on civilian infrastructure across Ukraine today.
“These assaults are in flagrant violation of international law and those responsible must be brought to justice.”
Lammy also lamented the death of Brit Ryan Evans, who was working for news agency Reuters when a missile hit his hotel in Kramatorsk on Saturday.
Evacuated Russian citizens arrive at a railway station to escape to safetyRussian Emergencies Ministry / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
Ukrainians coming to terms with the fallout from Russian bombardmentsOLEKSANDR GIMANOV/AFP via Getty Images
What remained of a Ukrainian hotel after it was struck by a Russian missile overnightHANDOUT/UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE/AFP
A crushed car seen near the hotel destroyed by the Russian ballistic missile attackUkrinform/REX/Shutterstoc
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