{"id":150569,"date":"2025-05-22T10:08:54","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T10:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-zelensky-reveals-significant-russian-losses-in-kursk-and-says-fight-continues-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T10:08:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T10:08:54","slug":"ukraine-russia-war-latest-zelensky-reveals-significant-russian-losses-in-kursk-and-says-fight-continues-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-zelensky-reveals-significant-russian-losses-in-kursk-and-says-fight-continues-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky reveals \u2018significant\u2019 Russian losses in Kursk and says fight continues – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Putin yesterday staged his first visit to Kursk since Russia claimed it expelled all Ukrainian forces from the region
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Ukraine<\/a> president Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> says Russia<\/a> has suffered more than 63,000 casualties in Kursk<\/a> and that Ukrainian operations there continue, hours after Vladimir Putin<\/a> made a surprise visit to the region.
\u201cSince the start of the Kursk<\/a> operation in August, the Russian army has suffered significant losses \u2013 more than 63,000 killed and wounded in that area alone,\u201d Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address.
Earlier in the day, Mr Putin staged a visit to inspect the nuclear plant in Kursk, his first trip since Russian forces claimed they ejected Ukrainian troops from the area last month.
Mr Zelensky rejected that claim again last night and said fighting continues in two Russian regions \u2013 Kursk and Belgorod.
His comments came after Russia<\/a> said it had faced an unprecedented attack from more than 370 Ukrainian drones, including almost two-dozen approaching Moscow<\/a>.
Officials said airports serving the Russian capital were briefly closed to ensure the safety of flights but there were no reports of casualties.
Ukraine<\/a>\u2019s military partially claimed responsibility and confirmed it had struck the Bolkhov semiconductor plant in Oryol Oblast overnight.
A new 5,000-ton destroyer key to North Korea<\/a>‘s naval advancement was damaged during its launching ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un, state media reported Thursday.
The ship slid off the ramp and became stuck after the flatcar failed to move alongside it, throwing off its balance and crushing parts of the ship\u2019s bottom, according to the Korean Central News Agency<\/a>.
The accident at Wednesday\u2019s ceremony at the northeastern port of Chongjin was an embarrassing setback for Kim, who has emphasised naval advancement as key to his nuclear-armed military.
Germany\u2019s finance minister has said he is optimistic about the Group of Seven signing a joint statement, possibly vocalising support for Ukraine, after the countries failed to do so earlier this year due to US opposition.
After meeting with US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, German minister Lars Klingbeil told journalists there were \u201cpositive signals\u201d and that he believed \u201cwe can build on them.\u201d
Yesterday, we reported that officials had claimed the US was maintaining opposition to a joint communique from the G7, which is currently meeting in Banff Canada, owing to its language in support of Ukraine. It previously blocked a joint statement for the same reason in February; the remaining members of the group had hoped to publish a statement in support of Ukraine to mark three years since Vladimir Putin ordered his full-scale invasion.
But Klingbeil said that it was clear from discussions that the G7 would continue to support Ukraine. \u201cThat is also an important sign,\u201d he added.
Below we have some of the first pictures from Ukraine\u2019s emergency services detailing the aftermath of Russian strikes yesterday.
Below, you can see the result of a Russian drone attack on a two-story administrative building in the village of Velykyi Burluk, Kupyansky district.
The heaviest frontline battles remain around in the Pokrovsk region of Ukraine\u2019s eastern Donetsk, the country\u2019s president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
\u201cRussian assault operations continue, and our forces maintain all necessary combat activity,\u201d he said in his nightly address.
\u201cThe most intense situation remains in the Donetsk region, particularly in the Pokrovsk direction.\u201d
He added that there were continuing operations in Russia\u2019s two regions of Kursk and Belgorod, which border Ukraine\u2019s northeast. \u201cThis is our active and effective defence of Sumy and Kharkiv regions,\u201d the president added, referring to Ukraine\u2019s northeastern regions.
Pokrovsk, a small city with a prewar population of 60,000, has appeared to be the jewel of Russia\u2019s creeping advance in the east for more than a year. Ukraine has heavily fortified the area.
Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport temporarily suspended arrivals and departures on Thursday, Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said.
The announcement comes after the Russian MoD claimed Ukraine fired more than 100 drones, including dozens at Moscow, over the border overnight.
Good morning.
To bring you up to speed this morning, Russia has claimed it shot down a significant salvo of Ukrainian drones, including dozens heading towards Moscow.
It was at least the second day this week that Russia has made this claim.
The Kremlin\u2019s Ministry of Defence alleged they had shot down 105 Ukrainian drones between midnight and the early morning of Thursday. The previous day, Russia said it shot down well over 300 Ukrainian drones.
Sergei Sobyanin, Moscow’s mayor, said multiple drones had been shot down heading towards the capital.
Ukraine has yet to publish details of a possible Russian aerial attack overnight. I will bring that information to you if\/when it is published.
President Vladimir Putin visited Russia’s Kursk region for the first time since Moscow claimed that it drove Ukrainian forces out of the area last month, the Kremlin said.
Mr Putin’s unannounced visit appeared to be an effort to show Russia is in control of the conflict, even though its full-scale invasion of its neighbor has been slow and costly in terms of casualties and equipment.
Video broadcast by Russian state media showed that Putin visited Kursk Nuclear Power Plant-2, which is still under construction, and met with selected volunteers.
Many of the volunteers wore clothes emblazoned with the Russian flag, some had the Latin letters “V” on them, one of the symbols of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“What you are doing now during this difficult situation for this region, for this area, and for the country, will remain with you for the rest of your life as, perhaps, the most meaningful thing with which you were ever involved,” Mr Putin said as he drank tea with the volunteers.
Ukrainian forces made a surprise incursion into Kursk in August 2024 in one of their biggest battlefield successes in the more than three-year war. The incursion was the first time Russian territory was occupied by an invader since the Second World War and dealt a humiliating blow to the Kremlin.
A key aide to a former Ukrainian president was shot dead <\/a>on Wednesday morning outside an American school in Madrid<\/a>.
Spain\u2019s interior ministry confirmed Andriy Portnov, 51, a senior aide to Ukraine\u2019s former president Viktor Yanukovych, died after he was shot taking his children to school in the affluent neighbourhood of Pozuelo at 9.15am (8.15 UK time) local time.
Police said witnesses had reported Portnov was shot “several times” in the head and body by more than one gunman when he was getting into his car, a black Mercedes Benz.
The assailants then fled on foot. Spanish media has reported investigators are looking for a tall, thin man who fled towards Casa de Campo.
A Spanish police source earlier told El Pais <\/em>that a citizen reported finding a man \u201cwounded, lying on the ground and unconscious\u201d.
Britain and its allies, including the US, issued an advisory yesterday, warning of a Russian state-sponsored cyber campaign targeting the delivery of support to Ukraine and Western logistics entities and technology companies.
\u201cThis malicious campaign by Russia’s military intelligence service presents a serious risk to targeted organisations, including those involved in the delivery of assistance to Ukraine,\u201d Paul Chichester, Director of Operations at Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said.
A former Ukrainian politician<\/a> and key aide to the ousted pro-Russian president<\/a> Viktor Yanukovych<\/a> has been killed<\/a>.
Andriy Portnov, 51, was gunned down on Wednesday morning outside the gates of the American School in Madrid’s affluent neighbourhood of Pozuelo.
Police received the call about the shooting at 9.15 am local time. Radio station Cadena SER said the man was taking his children to school when he was shot.
Mr Portnov, from the eastern region of Luhansk, is a former Ukrainian politician closely tied to Yanukovych, having served as deputy head of the presidential office from 2010 to 2014.
My colleague Tom Watling<\/em><\/strong> reports:
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