Russia Ukraine war live: British tanks believed to have been used in Kursk as 20,000 people evacuated

A Russian-American ballerina has been jailed for 12 years in Russia for donating £40 to a charity supporting Ukraine.

Ksenia Karelina pleaded guilty at her closed trial in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, where her case was heard by the same court that convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage in July.

Her supporters say she had donated £40 to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based charity that provides humanitarian aid to children and elderly people in Ukraine

Russia has sent forces of its Eastern military district to Mongolia to participate in joint drills, state news agency TASS said on Thursday, quoting the defence ministry.

Moscow, currently fighting a 10-day-old incursion by Ukrainian forces into western Russia, has continued to stage joint military exercises with foreign partners throughout the Ukraine war.

British tanks are believed to have been used by Ukrainian troops in their cross-border assault into Russia just over a week ago, reports suggest.

A source told Sky News British Challenger 2 tanks were used during the Ukrainian incursion in what would be the first time they have been used on Russian territory. The Ministry of Defence was approached for comment.

The UK agreed to give Ukraine 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks in January 2023 in a move that prompted Germany and the United States to follow suit with their versions.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denied his country’s involvement in explosions which damaged the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and instead pointed the finger at Russia in comments to Reuters on Thursday.

“Such an act can only be carried out with extensive technical and financial resources… And who possessed all this at the time of the bombing? Only Russia,”

Satellite images show the devastating impact of Ukrainian drone strikes on an airfield in Russia.

Four air bases were hit in a massive Ukrainian drone strike in the early hours of Wednesday morning, including the Borisoglebsk Air Base.

Russian authorities have appealed for citizens to apply for jobs which involve digging trenches in Kursk.

Avito, a Russian job site, posted the listings with a salary 150,000-371,000 rubles (around £1,300-£3,200).

A second job listing details “round the clock” working involving “digging trenches” on the “second line of defence”.

“We provide: Three meals a day; All necessary tools; Work clothes; Transportation to the place of work at the expense of the company,” one advertisement read.

Ukraine’s surprise attack inside Russia is the only way to force Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table as part of a “psychological” tactic to win the war, president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief adviser has told The Independent.

In its most successful move of the two-and-a-half-year conflict, Kyiv has captured more Russian land in the past seven days than Moscow has taken in Ukraine all year.

Ukrainian forces have steadily advanced across the border into the Kursk region, taking over towns and villages and forcing hundreds of thousands of ordinary Russians to flee their homes.

Russian troops have hastily built fortifications miles north of Ukraine’s frontline in Kursk in a sign Vladimir Putin is “concerned” about Kyiv’s advance, a US think tank said.

New satellite images from Maxar show a series of field fortifications – including trenches and anti-vehicle ditches – have been built in the Lgov area.

The Institute for the Study of War said this suggests the Russian military was “concerned about potential continued and rapid Ukrainian mechanised northward advances”.