Russian soldiers are lying about the controllability of the situation
On the 896th day of a war that has long since blurred the lines between front and homeland, Ukrainian forces crossed into Russia's Kursk region in a coordinated incursion — soldiers, tanks, and armoured vehicles pressing as far as ten kilometres into territory Moscow insists it controls. The operation signals a strategic evolution: Ukraine is no longer simply defending its own soil but testing the boundaries of what this war permits and what it demands. As Western allies withhold permission for long-range strikes, Kyiv is answering with both audacity on the ground and self-reliance in the arms factories, while ordinary people — in Kharkiv apartments, in Russian living rooms — continue to absorb the cost.
- Ukrainian forces launched a rare and substantial cross-border raid into Kursk with 300 soldiers and armoured vehicles, fighting reported six miles deep inside Russian territory — a provocation Moscow was slow to acknowledge and quick to deny.
- Russia's claim of seizing 420 square kilometres since June collapses under scrutiny: independent analysis puts the real figure at 290 square kilometres, exposing a pattern of systematic, high-level exaggeration.
- A Russian Iskander missile tore through a residential neighbourhood in Kharkiv, killing at least one person and wounding twelve others including an eight-month-old baby, as the war's civilian toll quietly compounds.
- Blocked from using Western-supplied missiles for deep strikes inside Russia, Zelenskiy announced accelerated funding for domestic weapons production — a pivot toward strategic self-sufficiency that reframes Ukraine's relationship with its allies.
- In Russia, anti-mobilisation activist Maria Andreyeva was forced into hiding after being fired, labelled a foreign agent, and relentlessly pressured by the Kremlin — a reminder that the war's silencing reaches far behind the front lines.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian forces crossed into Russia's Kursk region in a coordinated operation involving around 300 soldiers, tanks, and armoured vehicles. Fighting was reported as far as six miles inside Russian territory near the town of Sudzha, between the border villages of Nikolayevo-Daryino and Oleshnya. Ukraine's government said little at first, but Andrii Kovalenko of the national security council broke the silence pointedly: Russian soldiers were lying about their control of the situation, and the border was not under Russian command. The scale and coordination of the incursion suggested something more substantial than the volunteer-group raids that had come before.
The operation reflected a broader strategic shift. President Zelenskiy announced increased funding for Ukraine's domestic missile programme — a direct response to Western allies refusing to authorise the use of supplied missiles for long-range strikes deep inside Russia. Ukraine was expanding production of weapons like the Neptune missile, capable of striking both sea and land targets. The message was unambiguous: if the West would not provide the tools, Ukraine would build them.
Elsewhere, the war's human cost continued to accumulate. A Russian Iskander missile struck a residential neighbourhood in Kharkiv, killing at least one person and wounding twelve, including an eight-month-old baby. A medical clinic was among the buildings destroyed. In Donetsk, Russian forces advanced near Toretsk and claimed the settlement of Timofiyivka, as General Gerasimov visited occupied positions in the region.
The numbers, however, told a more complicated story. Russia's Sergei Shoigu had been claiming since mid-June that Russian forces had seized 420 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory. The Institute for the Study of War found the figure heavily inflated — actual advances amounted to roughly 290 square kilometres, suggesting Moscow's exaggerations were not incidental but systematic.
Inside Russia, the machinery of repression was tightening. Maria Andreyeva, a prominent activist with the anti-conscription group Put Domoy — wives and mothers calling for soldiers to be brought home — announced she was abandoning her public campaign. Fired from her job, branded a foreign agent, and relentlessly pressured by the Kremlin, she told AFP she had no choice but to disappear into the shadows. Day 896 of the war: Ukraine pushing into Russian soil, Russia claiming victories it had not quite achieved, and the people caught between them paying in blood, displacement, and silence.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian forces crossed into Russian territory in a coordinated operation that caught Moscow's attention and prompted immediate denials about who controlled what. Around 300 soldiers, moving with tanks and armoured vehicles, pushed into the Kursk region across the border, with fighting reported as far as six miles deep inside Russia near the town of Sudzha. The incursion occurred between the border villages of Nikolayevo-Daryino and Oleshnya. Social media accounts circulated overhead photographs showing strikes on Russian trailers carrying tanks, though the Guardian could not independently verify the images.
Ukraine's government initially said little about the operation. But Andrii Kovalenko, an official with Ukraine's national security and defence council, broke the silence with a pointed statement: Russian soldiers were lying about their control of the situation in Kursk. The border, he said flatly, was not under Russian command. This was not Ukraine's first incursion of this kind—pro-Ukrainian Russian volunteer groups, including the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion, had conducted raids before—but the scale and coordination of this operation suggested something more substantial.
The raid underscored a broader shift in Ukrainian strategy. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced on Tuesday that Ukraine was increasing funding for its domestic missile programme, a direct response to Western allies refusing to allow Ukrainian forces to use supplied missiles for long-range strikes deep inside Russia. Ukraine was working to expand production of weapons like the Neptune, an anti-ship missile that can also strike land targets. The message was clear: if the West would not give Ukraine the tools it needed, Ukraine would build them itself.
Meanwhile, the human cost of the war continued to accumulate in ways both visible and hidden. A Russian Iskander ballistic missile struck a residential neighbourhood in Kharkiv in north-east Ukraine, killing at least one person and wounding twelve others, including an eight-month-old baby. A medical clinic was among the buildings destroyed. In the eastern Donetsk region, Russian forces pressed forward near Toretsk, advancing in the settlements of Pivnichne and Niu York, where they raised a flag on a building. Russia's defence ministry claimed it had taken the settlement of Timofiyivka, a claim made as the head of Russia's general staff, Valery Gerasimov, visited occupied positions in Donetsk.
But the numbers told a different story about Russian progress. Sergei Shoigu, Russia's security council secretary and former defence minister, had been claiming since mid-June that Russian forces had seized 420 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based research organization, examined the evidence and found the figure inflated. Russian forces had actually captured approximately 290 square kilometres in that period—a significant difference, and one that suggested Moscow was not just exaggerating for propaganda but doing so heavily, systematically, and at the highest levels.
Back in Russia itself, the machinery of state control was tightening around dissent. Maria Andreyeva, a prominent activist against forced military conscription, announced she was abandoning her public campaign. The Kremlin had pressured her relentlessly. She had been fired from her job and branded a "foreign agent." The group she had worked with, known as "Put Domoy"—Way Home—consisted of wives and mothers calling on Putin to bring conscripted men back from the front. Now, Andreyeva told Agence France-Presse, she had no choice but to disappear. "Unfortunately I have to go into the shadows," she said. The war was grinding on, day 896, with Ukraine pushing into Russian territory while Russia claimed victories it had not quite achieved, and the people caught between them—soldiers, civilians, activists—paying the price in blood, displacement, and silence.
Notable Quotes
Russian soldiers are lying about the controllability of the situation in the Kursk region. Russia does not control the border.— Andrii Kovalenko, Ukraine's national security and defence council
Unfortunately I have to go into the shadows.— Maria Andreyeva, Russian anti-mobilisation activist
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did Ukraine launch this raid now, and what does it actually accomplish?
It's partly tactical—you disrupt Russian operations, you seize initiative, you show your own population that you can strike back. But it's also strategic messaging. Ukraine is saying: we can reach inside Russia. We're not just defending; we're capable of offensive action. That matters for morale and for how the war is perceived.
The Kursk region isn't where most of the fighting has been. Why there?
Kursk is relatively lightly defended compared to the main front lines in Donetsk and Luhansk. It's also a statement—Ukraine can choose where to fight, not just react to where Russia attacks. And if Ukraine can hold territory inside Russia, even temporarily, it changes the negotiating picture down the line.
What's the significance of Ukraine building its own missiles instead of relying on Western supplies?
It's about independence and desperation mixed together. The West won't let Ukraine use supplied weapons for deep strikes into Russia, so Ukraine is saying: fine, we'll make our own. It's slower, it's harder, but it means Ukraine isn't waiting for permission anymore.
How reliable are those Russian territorial gain numbers—the 420 versus 290 square kilometres?
The Institute for the Study of War is credible, and they're saying Russia is lying by about 130 square kilometres. That's not a small margin of error. It suggests the Kremlin is either delusional about what it's actually controlling or deliberately feeding false numbers up the chain. Either way, it's a problem for Russian decision-making.
What happened to Maria Andreyeva matters, but it seems almost separate from the military story.
It's not separate at all. The war isn't just being fought on the battlefield. It's being fought in homes, in workplaces, in the ability of people to speak. Andreyeva was organizing mothers and wives to demand their sons and husbands come home. The Kremlin couldn't tolerate that, so it crushed her. That's the other front.