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B REACTOR TOURS

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is now offering free public tours of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park facilities at the Hanford Site. Tours will run from April to November, with six days a week available during the summer and holiday weekends.

Hanford was one of the primary Manhattan Project locations during World War II, where over 50,000 people constructed a massive industrial complex to produce plutonium in nuclear reactors.

The park offers two tours: the first visits the B Reactor National Historic Landmark, where visitors can view the world’s first full-scale nuclear production reactor; the second explores the history of the area before the Manhattan Project. Both tours are free, open to all ages, and require registration.

Visitors who would like help scheduling a tour, or have special requests including wheel chair transportation or American Sign Language interpretation, are invited to call (509) 376-1647 , or stop by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park visitor center, at 2000 Logston Boulevard in Richland, Washington.

For more information on the planned tour dates for 2023 and to register, please click HERE .

Additional Resources:

• Virtual Tour of the B Reactor
• B Reactor Museum Association
• Ranger in your pocket

Hanford B Reactor will soon close for tourists. What to know if you go

It’s a 45-minute bus ride to get a firsthand look into a top secret Eastern Washington project that changed the world.

Tucked away in the desert at the Hanford site northwest of Richland is the historic B Reactor, the world’s first full-scale nuclear reactor built during World War II to develop the atomic bomb.

About twice as many people have visited the reactor this year compared to the same time last year, said Colleen French, the Department of Energy program manager for the Manhattan Project National Historical Park at Hanford.

The release of the Oscar-winning film “Oppenheimer” is contributing to the demand. The biographical thriller focuses on theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer’s work at Los Alamos, N.M.

The Hanford site still contains radioactivity in certain areas, but those areas are controlled with no public access. It was shut down permanently in February 1968.

Last August, it was announced that the reactor is expected to close to tours for at least the next two years for repairs and preservation work on the 80-year-old reactor building.

That means the 2024 tour season, now planned through October, is the ideal time to sign up for a visit .

Inside the reactor

On your guided ride across the vast Hanford site, visitors soon spot the B Reactor entrance. The blocky old structure looms in the distance, tan and gray.

Once off the bus, you make your way inside to the center of the reactor, where the iconic front face is located.

It’s a moment of awe, looking up at the front face’s gold rows of process tubes.

The design allowed the reactor to produce plutonium-239 by irradiating naturally occurring uranium with neutrons.

The visit begins with a presentation at the front face, when a guide explains how the reactor was operated and what tools and equipment were used.

Armed with a paper map, you then have time for a self-guided experience in 12 rooms, including the control room, fuel storage basin viewing room and valve pit room.

Walkways take you through the exhaust and intake fan hallways, office settings, and exhibits of safety signs, tools and clothing. Machinery is painted a minty green, and there are handwritten signs labeling parts of the reactor.

There’s about two hours to explore the building before heading back to the visitor center. The full tour lasts about four hours, including time on the bus.

During the visit, guides provide two other optional presentations at the front face/valve pit room and inside the control room.

Before you go

The free tours begin and end at the visitor center at 2000 Logston Blvd. in Richland and include bus rides to and from the reactor. Visitors must take the bus to get to the B Reactor.

Tours are offered daily, except most Sundays. They start at 8:30 a.m. or 11:45 a.m., depending on the date.

To register, go to manhattanprojectbreactor.hanford.gov . Those without internet access may contact the tour center by calling 509-376-1647.

Expect large groups — there are up to 43 seats per tour.

The main tour route in the B Reactor is wheelchair accessible on one level with smooth finished surfaces. Wheelchair accessible buses and sign-language interpreters are available with two weeks notice.

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Restrooms are located in the visitor center. The only restrooms at the reactor are porta-potties outside the building.

Food and nonalcoholic drinks are allowed on the bus. Only bottled water is allowed inside the reactor. There is no food or drink available to purchase at the visitor center or the B Reactor.

Cameras, cellphones and other recording devices are allowed.

There is no air conditioning inside the reactor, so dress to stay cool in the summer heat. Wear comfortable shoes.

There is no age limit. The tour may be best for older children.

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Last updated: February 15, 2024

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Contact info, mailing address:.

Manhattan Project National Historical Park c/o NPS Intermountain Regional Office P.O. Box 25287 Denver, CO 80225-0287

Hanford: 509.376.1647 Los Alamos: 505.661.6277 Oak Ridge: 865.482.1942

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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv ‘strikes Putin’s airfields’ 500 miles over border amid Kursk incursion

LIVE – Updated at 16:46

Ukraine carried out its largest long-range drone strike of the war on four Russian military airfields, security sources claimed.

The strike, which targeted Russia’s Voronezh, Kursk, Savasleyka and Borisoglebsk air bases up to 500 miles over the border, was aimed to undermine Moscow’s ability to use warplanes for glide bomb attacks .

It comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed his army was continuing to advance deeper into Russia after it launched an incursion over the border just over a week ago.

Zelensky said his forces have moved forward one to two kilometres in various directions inside Kursk today, although this hasn’t been independently verified.

In Belgorod , which borders Kursk, the governor said the situation was “extremely tense” and claimed Kyiv ’s troops had been shelling his oblast over the past few days.

“We are making a decision to declare a regional emergency situation throughout the Belgorod region with a subsequent appeal to the government to declare a federal emergency situation,” Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Ukraine hits Russian airfields in drone attack

Ukraine still advancing in kursk, zelensky claims, belgorod declares state of emergency.

• Ukraine launches ‘huge drone barrage’
• Mapped: Ukraine’s cross-border attack

The strike, which targeted Russia’s Voronezh, Kursk, Savasleyka and Borisoglebsk air bases up to 500 miles over the border, was aimed to undermine Moscow’s ability to use warplanes for glide bomb attacks.

“Long-range drones of the security service of Ukraine and defence forces carried out the largest attack on Russian military airfields of the entire war,” an official in the Ukrainian security service, the SBU, told the Financial Times.

Zelensky discusses need for military administration in Russia’s Kursk region

Zelensky said he had held a meeting on the security and humanitarian situation in Russia’s Kursk region where the Ukrainian military has been advancing in an unprecedented cross-border assault.

“Security, humanitarian aid, creation of military administrations if necessary,” he said on Telegram, posting a video of the meeting with Kyiv’s top officials.

Pictured: Ukraine’s offensive

Ukraine to create security zone in kursk.

Ukraine is creating a “security zone” in Russia’s Kursk region and plans to organize humanitarian assistance and evacuation corridors for civilians looking to go either to Russia or to Ukraine, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

She added on Telegram on Wednesday that Ukraine planned to organise access to the area for international humanitarian organizations as well.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed his army is continuing to advance deeper into Russia after it launched an incursion over the border just over a week ago.

Zelensky said his forces have moved forward one to two kilometres in various directions inside Kursk today, although this hasn’t been independently verified.

Overnight, Ukraine fired at least 117 drones and four tactical missiles on Russian territory, including 37 on Kursk, Russian officials also said.

Putin’s greatest fear is coming true – and he’s panicking

Throughout its war with Russia, Ukraine has shown a remarkable capacity to take its much bigger invader by surprise. Since its repulse of Russia’s onslaught in February 2022, the Ukrainians have scored morale-boosting hits on their enemy.

Last week’s sudden incursion into Russian territory is, however, much more dramatic than previous Ukrainian coups.

It came as Western military commentators seemed to agree that Vladimir Putin was winning a brutal war of attrition against his smaller neighbour, maybe forcing Ukraine to accept his demands in the coming months. So, the West was as surprised as the Kremlin by recent events.

In an address on Sunday, the Russian leader accused Ukraine of breaking “all permissible boundaries” after they grabbed up to 95 square miles of land and forced thousands of civilians to evacuate in the process.

Putin’s greatest fear is coming true – and he’s panicking | Mark Almond

Ukraine’s troops still advancing in Russia’s Kursk region, Zelensky says

Ukraine said its major cross-border assault had advanced one to two kilometres in Russia’s Kursk region since the start of Wednesday and that its troops had finished clearing the Russian town of Sudzha of Moscow’s forces.

Kyiv blindsided Moscow by pouring thousands of troops into the western Russian region of Kursk last week. The surprise operation has given Ukraine its biggest battlefield gains since 2022 after months on the backfoot.

In a video posted on his Telegram account, President Volodymyr Zelensky was shown being briefed by his top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, by video link.

“We continue to advance further in Kursk region. From one to two kilometres in various areas since the start of the day. And more than 100 Russian prisoners of war in the same period,” Zelensky wrote in a statement published alongside the video.

Ukraine says it destroyed Russian jet in Kursk region

Ukraine’s military claims to have destroyed a Russian fighter jet over Kursk.

The General Staff said the Su-34 aircraft, worth around $30m, was destroyed during a combat mission in the Russian border region overnight.

“Work to eliminate the occupiers, their equipment and weapons continues on an ongoing basis,” it said.

Four Russian military airfields hit in ‘major drone attack’, says Ukraine

Four Russian military airfields were hit in a ‘major drone attack’ carried out overnight, a Ukrainian security source has told the Reuters news agency.

The source said the attack was designed to undermine Russia’s ability to use Su-34 fighter jets, which have been used to hit Ukraine with gliding bombs.

Russians ‘building trenches 27 miles from Ukraine border’

Russian forces are reportedly digging trenches 27 miles from its border with Ukraine in the Kursk region.

Satellite images have shown the hastily-dug defensive lines appearing miles away from Ukraine’s current battlefield positions inside Russian territory, near to Lgov and Kurchatov.

The moves help bolster Russian sources that claimed Russia was planning to halt further Ukrainian advances, despite its military suggesting Ukraine’s offensive had stalled.

Breaking: Ukraine ‘captures 100 prisoners of war’ in Kursk

Ukraine has captured 100 Russian prisoners of war in Kursk, a top commander has said.

Mapped: Ukrainian invasion of Russia

Kyiv’s operations in kursk are ‘defensive’, poland says.

Ukraine has the full right to counter Russia’s aggression “as effectively as possible,” Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, said in reference to Kyiv’s incursion into Kursk.

When asked about Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied weapons during the operations on Russian soil, Mr Tusk said that Kyiv’s “actions are defensive.”

Ukraine has right to invade Russia, Finland says

Ukraine has the right to defend itself by conducting a military operation in Russia’s Kursk region, the Finnish prime minister said.

Petteri Orpo said: “Ukraine has the right to self-defence and it’s clear that they can do their operation in Kursk.”

Ukraine continues to pound Kursk with missiles and drones

Ukraine kept pounding the Russian border region of Kursk with missiles and drones on Wednesday, as Kyiv said it had made further territorial gains in its startling incursion.

Four Ukraine-launched missiles were destroyed over Kursk and the whole region was under air raid alerts on and off most of the night, its regional governor said early Wednesday.

Ukraine’s account has jarred with Russia’s assertions that Kyiv’s troops had been halted and attacks had been repelled at villages about 16 to 17 miles from the border.

A second Russian border region has declared a state of emergency as Kyiv launched a huge overnight drone and missile barrage over a week into its surprise offensive.

Belgorod’s governor said the situation was “extremely tense” and claimed Ukrainian forces had been shelling the region for days with civilians killed and wounded.

“We are making a decision to declare a regional emergency situation throughout the Belgorod region with a subsequent appeal to the government to declare a federal emergency situation,” Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Longest-held Russian dissident freed in swap says ‘colors get brighter by the day’ in his new life

Russia attacked energy facilities in Ukraine, national grid operator says

Russia has attacked energy facilities in Ukraine’s north and south, national grid operator Ukrenergo said on Wednesday.

An energy facility in the southern region was attacked in the morning, according to an Ukrenergo statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian drones were used to attack another energy facility in the north overnight, causing temporary power cuts to consumers in parts of Chernihiv region, it said in the statement.

Ukraine keeps advancing in attack inside Russia that has humiliated Putin

Ukraine has said its forces are still advancing a week into its largest cross-border attack into Russia so far – but officials say that it has no interest in permanently keeping hold of the swathes of territory it has taken.

Ukraine blindsided Moscow by pouring troops into the western Russian region of Kursk last week in a surprise operation that Kyiv says has seen its forces take 1,000 sq km (390 sq miles) of land.

Ukraine said on Tuesday afternoon that its forces had taken control of 74 settlements in Kursk during its week-long assault, and that they had advanced about a mile over the previous 24 hours.

Ukraine downs 17 out of 23 Russian drones overnight

Ukraine shot down 17 out of 23 Russia-launched drones during an overnight attack, the country’s air force said this morning.

The Russian forces also launched two Kh-59/69 guided missiles to attack Ukraine, the air force said. Local authorities in several Ukrainian regions reported infrastructure damage following the attack.

Russia failing to make gains in Ukraine as Kursk operation escalates

Russian forces have been trying to advance for months on multiple fronts in the eastern Donetsk region, taking advantage of their greater troop numbers to inch towards cities like the Kyiv-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said: “It should be emphasized that the (Kursk) operation ... helps the front line because it does not allow Russia to transfer additional units to the Donetsk region, complicates its military logistics.”

For now, there is no sign of a letup for Ukraine in the east where Kyiv’s military said earlier it had recorded the largest number of battles with Russian forces on the Pokrovsk front in a single day since before the Kursk incursion.

“Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people,” Mr Tykhyi said.

Ukraine has noted Russian troops moving from the south to other areas, likely including Kursk, this week, military spokesperson Dmytro Lykhoviy said, adding that the number of attacks had not decreased as a result and it was too early to draw conclusions.

Russia claims Ukrainian attack of 117 drones and four tactical missiles

Russia’s air defences destroyed 117 drones and four tactical missiles launched overnight by Ukraine targeting several regions including Kursk, its defence ministry said this morning.

The missiles and 37 drones were destroyed over the Kursk region, the ministry said, while 37 drones were destroyed over the Voronezh region, among others.

The Russian ministry did not give a total of air weapons Ukraine launched.

After Kursk, Russia’s border region Belgorod declares regional emergency

The governor of Russia’s border area of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, declared a regionwide state of emergency today, citing continued attacks by Ukrainian forces.

“The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be extremely difficult and tense,” Mr Gladkov said. Daily shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces had destroyed houses, killing and wounding civilians, he added.

“Therefore, we are making a decision, starting today, to declare a regional emergency situation throughout the Belgorod region with a subsequent appeal to the government to declare a federal emergency situation.”

More Russians are urged to flee Ukraine's cross-border attack as the Kremlin scrambles to respond

An official in the Kursk border region of Russia on Monday urged more residents to evacuate due to the “very tense situation” in the area, where Russian forces are still scrambling to respond to a surprise Ukrainian attack after almost a week of fierce fighting.

Russia’s emergency authorities say more than 76,000 people have fled their homes in areas of Kursk, where Ukrainian troops and armor poured across the border on Aug. 6, reportedly driving as deep as 30 kilometers (19 miles) into Russia and sowing alarm.

Ukrainian forces swiftly rolled into the town of Sudzha about 10 kilometers (6 miles) over the border after launching the attack. They reportedly still hold the western part of the town, which is the site of an important natural gas transit station.

Read the full article here:

Russian artist released in swap builds a new life in Germany, now free to marry her partner

Sasha Skochilenko and Sofya Subbotina are planning to get married. That wasn’t an option in their native Russia, but it’s possible now that they live in Germany, which recognizes same-sex weddings.

“We don’t know how or in which city we will do it, but that’s the plan,” Skochilenko, 33, told The Associated Press, looking lovingly at Subbotina, who radiated happiness.

They reunited earlier this month in Germany, shortly after Skochilenko and other Russian prisoners were exchanged in a historic East-West swap — a happy if unlikely ending to an over two-year ordeal.

Ukraine still advancing in Russia’s Kursk region, hints at ‘next steps’

Ukraine has taken control of 74 settlements in Russia’s region of Kursk and was still advancing, making gains of one to three km in the last 24 hours. This is Kyiv’s biggest cross-border assault of the war to date.

“Despite difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region, and our state’s ‘exchange fund’ is growing. Seventy-four settlements are under Ukrainian control,” Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Shown speaking by video link, the Ukrainian leader asked his top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, to develop the next “key steps” in the operation. “Everything is being executed according to the plan,” Syrskyi replied, without elaborating.

Ukraine blindsided Moscow by pouring thousands of troops into the western Russian region of Kursk last week. The surprise operation has given Ukraine its biggest battlefield gains since 2022 after months on the backfoot.

Kyiv’s forces have also rounded up Russian prisoners of war who could be swapped for captured Ukrainian fighters, what Mr Zelensky referred to as an expanding “exchange fund”.

Putin needs to be forced to attend peace summit, says Zelensky’s aide

Russia needs to be forced to participate in a summit on peace as it would not do so willingly, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said.

Mr Podolyak told national TV that one of the methods of coercion is actions on the battlefield, referring to Ukraine’s unprecedented cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

“Simple calls to Russia do not work, only a set of coercive tools works,” he said, referring to economic and diplomatic pressure as well.

He added that by actions in Russia’s border regions Ukraine was resolving the key issue of its own security.

“This is destruction of war infrastructure and formation of so-called sanitary zones so that Russia cannot use there ... equipment that strikes deep into the territory of Ukraine,” he said.

A week after the launch of the incursion, Ukraine said it controls 74 Russian settlements and continues its advance.

IAEA says still no known cause of fire at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Evidence continues to indicate that Monday’s fire at the Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine did not start at the base of the cooling tower or by a foreign object, the UN nuclear body International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

“The evidence gathered reinforces our conclusion that the main fire seems unlikely to be at the base of the cooling tower,” the IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

He said “foreign objects or materials were visible” in the damaged tower.

The Russian management of the plant told the IAEA that the tower may need to be dismantled, the IAEA said.

Thousands of Ukraine troops ready to defend land captured in daring attack into Russia

This isn’t a short jaunt into Russia as a propaganda exercise,” a colonel connected to the general staff of Ukraine ’s army says of Ukraine’s surprise attack on Russian soil . “This operation has been long in the planning and has serious aims and Ukrainian forces will stay for some time in Russia.”

Backing up the colonel’s assessment , an official who has worked for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration as an adviser and in a variety of other important roles, says the Kursk assault will not be a brief incursion but is likely to broaden its scope with the intention of holding onto captured territory.

He said that thousands more troops – potentially several brigades – are standing by, “including some of the best, most experienced troops and brigades” to fight.

Thousands of Ukraine troops ready to defend land captured in attack into Russia

Biden calls Ukraine incursion 'a real dilemma for Putin'

Ukraine’s military incursion into Russia has “created a real dilemma” for Vladimir Putin, president Joe Biden said, adding that US officials are in constant touch with the Ukrainians about the move.

Answering questions from reporters upon arrival in New Orleans, Mr Biden said he has been briefed every four to five hours for the last six to eight days on Ukraine’s action.

“It’s creating a real dilemma for Putin,” he said in his first substantive comments about the operation, which appeared to have caught the Russians off guard.

About 1,000 Ukrainian troops rammed through the Russian border in the early hours of 6 August with tanks and armoured vehicles. A US official said that the goal of Ukraine’s Kursk incursion appears to be to force Russia to pull troops out of Ukraine to defend Russian territory against the cross-border assault.

The White House said Ukraine did not provide advance notice of its incursion, which took place in the Kursk region of Russia. Russian forces on Tuesday struck back at Ukrainian troops with missiles, drones and airstrikes.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, said Washington had no involvement in the operation.

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Russia intensifies attacks in eastern Ukraine

The Russian army is intensifying its attacks in eastern Ukraine, military authorities said Tuesday, even as the Kremlin’s forces try to check a stunning weeklong incursion into Russia by Kyiv’s troops.

Ukraine’s General Staff said Tuesday that over the previous 24 hours Russian troops launched 52 assaults in the area of Pokrovsk, a town in Ukraine’s Donetsk region that is close to the front line. That’s roughly double the number of daily attacks there a week ago.

Ukraine’s sensational charge onto Russian soil that began Aug. 6 has already encompassed some 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian territory, the Ukrainian military claims.

Russia intensifies attacks in eastern Ukraine as it fights against Kyiv's cross-border incursion

Incursion into Russia has seen 121,000 evacuated from Kursk

Ukraine’s ambitious operation — the largest attack on Russia since World War II — has rattled the Kremlin. It compelled Russian President Vladimir Putin to convene a meeting Monday with his top defense officials.

Apparently, Ukraine assembled thousands of troops — some Western analysts estimate up to 12,000 — on the border in recent weeks without Russia noticing or acting.

About 121,000 people have been evacuated from Kursk or have fled the areas affected by fighting on their own, Russian officials say. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said it has seen geolocated footage indicating that Ukrainian forces advanced as much as 24 kilometers (15 miles) from the border.

The Russian Defense Ministry appeared to support that claim when it said Tuesday it had also blocked an attack by the units of Ukraine’s 82nd Air Assault Brigade toward Maryinka, which is about that distance from Ukraine.

US had no advance notice of Ukraine’s advancement plans

The United States had no advance notice from Ukraine that it planned a military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday.

U.S. officials have been seeking clarification from Ukraine about its objectives with an incursion that appeared to have caught Russia off guard. Jean-Pierre, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as President Joe Biden flew to New Orleans, said Washington had no involvement in the operation.

Polish prime minister says he backs Ukrainian operation

Ukraine’s Western partners have said the country has the right to defend itself, including by attacking across the border. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Tuesday that he backed the Ukrainian operation, though he said Kyiv officials did not consult him about it beforehand.

Russian military actions in Ukraine bear “the hallmarks of genocide, inhumane crimes, and Ukraine has every right to wage war in such a way as to paralyze Russia in its aggressive intentions as effectively as possible,” Tusk said.

Kremlin forces intensified their attacks in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s General Staff said Tuesday that over the previous 24 hours, Russian troops launched 52 assaults in the area of Pokrovsk, a town in Ukraine’s Donetsk region that is close to the front line. That’s roughly double the number of daily attacks there a week ago.Ukraine’s undermanned army has struggled to hold back the bigger, better-equipped Russian forces in Donetsk.

Ukraine hopes to deter Russian troops in shock cross-border assault

Ukraine said on Tuesday its biggest cross-border assault of the war to date would prevent Russia sending more troops to fight in its eastern Donetsk region and disrupt military logistics, and that Kyiv had no interest in occupying Russian territory.

Ukraine blindsided Moscow by pouring thousands of troops into the western Russian region of Kursk last week in a surprise operation that Kyiv says has seen its forces take 1,000 sq km of land, its largest gains since 2022.

“Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need other people’s property. Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry’s spokesman said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukrainian forces have taken control of areas in the Kursk region that Russia has used to launch more than two thousand cross-border strikes on Ukraine since June.

“It should be emphasized that the operation ... helps the front line because it does not allow Russia to transfer additional units to (Ukraine’s) Donetsk region, complicates its military logistics,” foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said.

Throughout its war with Russia , Ukraine has shown a remarkable capacity to take its much bigger invader by surprise. Since its repulse of Russia’s onslaught in February 2022, the Ukrainians have scored morale-boosting hits on their enemy.

Last week’s sudden incursion into Russian territory is , however, much more dramatic than previous Ukrainian coups. It came as Western military commentators seemed to agree that Vladimir Putin was winning a brutal war of attrition against his smaller neighbour, maybe forcing Ukraine to accept his demands in the coming months. So, the West was as surprised as the Kremlin by recent events.

This isn’t a short jaunt into Russia as a propaganda exercise,” a colonel connected to the general staff of Ukraine’s army says of Ukraine’s surprise attack on Russian soil. “This operation has been long in the planning and has serious aims and Ukrainian forces will stay for some time in Russia.”

Backing up the colonel’s assessment, an official who has worked for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration as an adviser and in a variety of other important roles, says the Kursk assault will not be a brief incursion but is likely to broaden its scope with the intention of holding onto captured territory.

Ukraine 'not interested in taking Russian territory'

Ukraine is not interested in “taking over” territory in Russia, its foreign ministry has said.

Spokesman Georgiy Tykhy also described Ukraine’s week-old invasion of the Kursk area as “absolutely legitimate”.

“Ukraine is not interested in taking over the territory of the Kursk region,” he added.

Two killed by Ukrainian shelling in Lysychansk,

Two people were killed when Ukrainian forces shelled a bus with civilians in the Russian-held city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, the TASS news agency cited Russian-appointed local authorities as saying.

Russian-installed officials earlier said that more than 30 people had been wounded in the attack.

Ukrainian troops still advancing into Russia

Ukrainian forces are still “advancing further” into the Russian border region of Kursk as Moscow scrambled to open hundreds of shelters amid a mass evacuation.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, said geolocated footage showed that despite Russian claims that the cross-border assault had stabilised, Kyiv’s forces were still pushing forwards.

Russia’s emergency ministry said 400 temporary shelters across the country had been opened to house around 30,000 people forced to flee Ukraine’s offensive which began last week.

Romania defuses stray mine on its Black Sea shore

Romania’s navy carried out a controlled explosion on Tuesday of a mine that had drifted to its Black Sea shore, the defence ministry have reported.

Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey have a joint taskforce to defuse stray mines, which began floating in the Black Sea after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The ministry said the navy was alerted by local officials early on Tuesday about an unidentified object that had washed up on shore near Grindul Chituc in southeastern Romania. The area is part of the Danube Delta, which Romania shares with Ukraine.

“By examining photographs taken on site, the object is most likely an anti-landing seamine of the YaRM type,” the ministry said in a statement. The mine was detonated at around 0950 GMT, the ministry added.

The Black Sea is crucial for shipments of grain, oil and oil products and is shared by Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia and Turkey, as well as Ukraine and Russia.

Since the war started, more than 100 drifting mines have been discovered and destroyed, the Romanian navy has said.