Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskiy says F16s shooting down Russian missiles

Kursk operation has taken 594 Russian PoWs, Syrski claims, as Grossi says Russian nuclear plant vulnerable like ‘the building across the street’. What we know on day 917

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for more F-16 fighter jets and more training for pilots to fly them as he revealed the western warplanes were used to shoot down Russian missiles during the last two days’ heavy attacks on Ukraine.

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region – which borders Ukraine and partly Ukrainian-occupied Kursk – said he was aware of reports that the Ukrainian army had tried to cross the border. “According to the Russian defence ministry, the situation on the border remains difficult but under control,” he said on social media.

Ukraine’s army chief, Oleksandr Syrsky, said his forces had made fresh gains in Kursk and controlled 100 towns and villages across 1,294 sq km (almost 500 sq miles). He claimed Russian forces had redeployed about 30,000 troops because of the Kursk incursion, and that Ukraine had taken 594 PoWs there, write Luke Harding and Pjotr Sauer.

Zelenskiy revealed that Ukraine had tested its first domestically produced ballistic missile. Ukraine’s president said he could not give more details; separately over the weekend, he announced the creation of the Palianytsia missile-drone and said it had been used successfully. Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Ukraine had the ability to produce 1.5m-2m drones this year but lacks the funding to reach that figure.

After the first wave of heavy Russian attacks on Monday, Joe Biden, the US president, said he had “reprioritised US air defence exports so they are sent to Ukraine first”. He also said the US was “surging energy equipment to Ukraine to repair its systems and strengthen the resilience of Ukraine’s energy grid”.

The Kursk nuclear plant is especially vulnerable because it does not have a good enough roof over its reactor, Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, said on Tuesday. After visiting the site, Grossi said the RBMK-type facility – the same model as Chornobyl – lacked a containment dome. “This is like the building across the street, all right? With all this nuclear material.”

Last week the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, accused Ukraine of trying to attack the Kursk plant. “I was informed about the impact of drones. I was shown some of the remnants of those and signs of the impact they had,” Grossi said, without saying who was responsible. Russia has invaded the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, and used it as a base for military operations. Zelenskiy has called the plant’s occupation “nuclear terrorism”.

Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that the war with Russia would eventually end through dialogue, but that Kyiv had to be in a powerful position at a summit that it hopes to convene this year to advance its vision of peace.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine planned to present a plan on how to end the war with Russia to the Democratic and Republican US presidential candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, as well as the incumbent, Joe Biden. Apart from the incursion into Kursk region, the plan included more steps on the diplomatic and economic fronts, he said.

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, who has just visited Ukraine, said he told Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that he supports “an early, abiding and peaceful resolution of the conflict”.

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