The governor of Russia’s Kursk region has claimed that Ukraine controls 28 settlements in the border province, and that Kyiv’s forces have advanced 7.4 miles into Russian territory during an incursion that began last Tuesday.

The comments were made during a meeting with Vladimir Putin and several other officials.

As the governor, Alexei Smirnov, admitted the situation was “difficult” and proceeded to discuss details of the attack, Putin quickly interjected to order Smirnov to stop.

“The defence ministry will report the depth and width,” Putin said, before ordering Smirnov to talk instead about the “social and economic situation and how people are being helped”.

Vladimir Putin has vowed to perpetrate a “worthy response” to Ukraine’s cross-border attacks.

In a meeting with officials, he said, without providing evidence: “Losses have been mounting dramatically for the armed forces of Ukraine, particularly among the most capable units which the enemy has been sending to our border.

“The enemy will undoubtedly receive a worthy response, and there is no doubt that we will reach all our objectives.”

Firefighters in Ukraine‘s southern region of Odesa have extinguished a sweeping blaze that had threatened a grain warehouse, the state emergency service have said.

No fatalities or injuries were reported as a result of the fire, which spanned around 2,000 meters and charred a portion of the facility in the village of Vizyrka. Authorities did not specify the cause.

“Thanks to the prompt actions of the firefighters, it was possible to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby grain warehouses,” the state emergency service said in a statement.

It did not name the damaged facility near the Black Sea port of Pivdennyi, one of Ukraine‘s largest.

The port is among three involved in a transport corridor through which Ukraine has shipped around 60 million tonnes of mostly agricultural cargoes.

More than ten thousand Russians have been evacuated from a region bordering Kursk, into which Ukrainian forces launched an incursion last Tuesday.

We have a full report below on what’s happening today.

The British Ministry of Defence has issued a video update to mark 900 days since Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

You can watch their video below.

Ukraine has said it has not seen any sign of a buildup of Belarusian forces near their border, contradicting a statement from Minsk that it had sent more troops to the area.

“In the last few days, we have not recorded any movement or build-up of Belarusian forces, (including) various units, equipment and personnel near our border,” said Andriy Demchenko, spokesman for Ukraine‘s border guard service.

Belarus, a close Kremlin ally that borders Ukraine‘s north, said on Saturday it was sending troops to reinforce its border with Ukraine after accusing Kyiv of violating its airspace with drones.

A Belarusian buildup on the border would mean a potential threat that Ukraine could feel compelled to respond to by diverting its already-stretched troops to reinforce the area at a tense moment along Ukraine‘s northern border with Russia.

Almost two-and-a-half years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine launched a surprise cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region last week. Russia said on Monday there was also heightened Ukrainian military activity near the Russian region of Belgorod.

Demchenko said in televised remarks that Belarus had made the statement about a buildup to “play along with Russia” to contribute to an information campaign to try to apply pressure on Ukraine.

“Most likely, they will be forced to … move equipment and personnel, perhaps in small numbers, in order to create the impression that this is happening. Most likely, if it will happen or is happening, it will be deeper within the Belarusian territory,” Demchenko added.

Eleven thousand people have been evacuated from Krasnaya Yaruga district in Russia’s Belgorod region, state news agency Tass has reported.

Earlier, we reported that the Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that evacuations had begun due to “enemy activity on the border”.

Belgorod is next to the Kursk region where Ukrainian forces broke across into Russia in a major incursion that started last Tuesday.