Yahoo Web Search

Russian forces have vowed an “all-out offensive” as Ukrainian forces continue to advance, consolidate and maintain control over towns they have seized.

The governor of a Russian region on Ukraine's border declared a state of emergency as a nearby Ukrainian offensive into Russia enters a second week. Ukraine says it has seized more territory in the Kursk region and its forces have also captured some Russian soldiers.

Overnight, the governor of the border region of Belgorod called the situation “very difficult” following attacks by Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine now controls 74 settlements in Russia's Kursk region, military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday.

Russia struck Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region after Ukraine launched a surprise attack and advanced into Russian territory. Daniel Byman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, joins CBS News with his analysis.

The cross-border operation is the biggest attack on sovereign Russian territory since the war started.

General Robert Abrams joins ABC News to talk the significance of Ukrainian forces occupying Russian territory.

Ukraine's Zelenskyy meets US bipartisan congressional delegation in Kyiv

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was briefed by Ukraine's top military officials on Monday before referring to the ongoing operation in Russia's Kursk region directly for the first time.

STORY: Ukraine's surprise cross-border incursion marked a significant shift in the almost 2-1/2 year war with Russia. It was Kyiv's biggest attack on Russian territory since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. International security expert Dr. Marion Messmer, of the London-based think tank Chatham House, told Reuters there are a couple likely strategies at play. "My best guess is that Ukraine, on the one hand, wanted to push back against Russia, perhaps to increase any leverage that they might have in any upcoming negotiations. And it also seems to have been an attempt to draw Russian military attention away from where they were pushing ahead... And that seems to have worked pretty well." Ukraine had been losing territory to Russian forces until its surprise attack. Messmer says it's a risky move. "One risk, of course, is that we've already seen that Russia has much more military personnel than Ukraine. And while Ukraine has managed to kind of stretch Russian military forces thinner, it also has to stretch its own forces much thinner. And Russia presumably is going to try and hit back quite hard because this is obviously making them look quite bad. And it's something that Putin won't want to see repeated. So this could lead to quite significant losses for the Ukrainian military, which are much harder for Ukraine to absorb than for Russia, which doesn't necessarily have the same personnel challenge." Messmer said that Ukraine’s counter-offensive has likely lifted its soldier's spirits… at least for the time being. "I think the counter-offensive so far has done a lot for morale. I mean, Ukrainians know that the alternative to the war, if it was to end badly for them, isn't good. And so that is part of why they have been so committed and so behind the government and I think this very successful counter-offensive has meant that there is a real sense that, you know, Ukraine could win the war... But it could, of course, also sort of go in the other direction if Russian attacks intensify as a result." Ukraine's top commander said on Monday that Kyiv controlled around 1,000 square kilometers of Russia's Kursk region, seven days after the incursion began.

Russia and Ukraine are blaming each other for a fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine as watchdogs warn of a nuclear accident.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that the Ukrainian army’s incursion into the Kursk region, which has caused more than 100,000 civilians to flee, was an attempt by Kyiv to "sow discord" into Russian society.

STORY: :: Volodymyr Zelenskiy via Telegram This video of smoke spewing from a nuclear cooling tower is what Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy claims shows a fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. :: Russian National Guard Press Service He claimed Sunday without evidence it had been set by Russian forces which now occupy the plant, seen here in Russian national guard handout video. Both sides are accusing the other of setting a fire on the grounds of the plant, Europe’s largest nuclear facility Russian state news agency RIA said that a drone attack started the fire, also without providing evidence. However, both sides also say there’s no sign of elevated radiation. The fire comes less than a week after Ukraine's forces launched their largest incursion into Russian territory since the war in Ukraine began in 2022. The six reactors at the plant are close to the front line of the war in Ukraine. They are not in operation, but the plant relies on external power to keep its nuclear material cool and avoid catastrophe. The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, which has a presence at the facility confirmed its experts had seen strong, dark smoke coming from the plant’s northern area. :: File IAEA chief Rafael Grossi says its agency has requested quote ‘immediate access’ to the cooling tower to assess the damage. There was no immediate response to his statement from Moscow or Kyiv.

Ukrainian troops launched an attack on Russia last week in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called an attempt to "push the war out into the aggressor's territory." Ian Lee has the latest.