Deadly Russian strikes pound Ukraine for 2nd day

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia fired a wave of attack drones and missiles at Ukraine that killed at least five people, authorities said Tuesday, after a second night of heavy strikes across the war-battered nation.

Within hours of the barrage, Ukraine claimed new advances in its surprise assault on Russia's Kursk border region and reported taking nearly 600 Russian troops as prisoners in the past three weeks.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media, saying that four people had been killed and 16 wounded on Tuesday.

AFP journalists in the capital Kyiv heard air raid sirens echo over the city throughout the night as well as an explosion, likely from air defence systems.

Monday's attack was one of Moscow's largest ever on Ukraine, prompting Kyiv to push for permission from allies to use Western-provided weapons to strike deep inside Russia.

Zelensky said in Kyiv that Ukraine had used Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets to counter the Russian barrages, and that Ukraine had successfully tested a domestically produced ballistic missile.

The Russian attacks on Monday triggered widespread blackouts and spurred condemnation from Ukraine's allies in Europe and the United States.

Russia said the attack targeted infrastructure linked to the Ukrainian military. NATO member Poland said its airspace was violated during the barrage, probably by a drone.

Since February 2022, Russia has launched repeated large-scale drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, including punishing strikes on energy facilities.

Ukraine's electricity grid operator said Tuesday that emergency blackouts would be applied throughout the day to reduce pressure on the grid following the attacks that damaged energy infrastructure nationwide.

'Break through the border' 

Ukrainian forces have been pushing their offensive in Kursk, a surprise operation that has seen Kyiv gain swathes of territory in three weeks.

The governor of Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Kursk and Ukraine, said Tuesday that he was aware of reports that the Ukrainian army had tried to cross the border.

"Information has emerged that the enemy is trying to break through the border of the Belgorod region," Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

"According to the Russian defence ministry, the situation on the border remains difficult but under control," he said on social media. 

Zelensky said late Monday that Ukraine's cross-border incursion launched on August 6 was partially to "compensate" for Kyiv's inability to strike deeper into Russian territory.

He has been appealing to Ukraine's allies to allow his forces to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russian territory as part of efforts to thwart more aerial bombardments.

Ukraine's army chief Oleksandr Syrsky said his forces had made fresh gains in Kursk recently and now controlled 100 towns and villages across 1,294 square kilometres.

He also claimed that Russian forces had redeployed around 30,000 troops to help fend off the Kursk incursion, and that Ukraine had taken 594 POWs during the incursion — the first time Kyiv has offered a precise figure.

Visiting the Kursk nuclear plant -- around 50 kilometres from the fighting -- on Tuesday, UN nuclear watchdog head Rafael Grossi warned that its proximity to the fighting was "extremely serious".

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has urged both Russia and Ukraine to exercise "maximum restraint" to avoid a nuclear accident at the plant.

Despite Kyiv's incursion into its territory, Moscow has been making steady gains in Ukraine and said Tuesday that its forces had captured the village of Orlivka near the strategic railway hub of Pokrovsk.

Zelensky had said late Monday that defending Pokrovsk was "difficult" and that Ukraine was strengthening its positions there as Russian forces advance. 

This week, AFP journalists saw civilians evacuating by train from Pokrovsk, once home to around 60,000 people.