Britain Greenlights Long-Range Strikes on Russia, US Remains Divided

Russian drones struck a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Konotop, located in the Sumy region, according to reports from UNIAN. The city's mayor, Artyom Seminykhin, confirmed the attack resulted in fires and injuries. In a later update on Telegram, Seminykhin reported that two individuals had been hospitalized, with one in a coma. Images circulating on local channels show damage to a multi-storey apartment building. Recent weeks have seen multiple Russian airstrikes hitting civilian infrastructure across Ukraine, as noted by BNR.

In the Donetsk region, Russian forces reportedly captured the village of Lesovka, located near Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub for the Ukrainian military. This information was shared by the military blog DeepState, which also noted increased pressure from Russian forces on Ukrainian troops holding parts of the Kursk region. According to a popular Ukrainian blog, a Russian military convoy crossed the Seym River and launched strikes on the town of Snagost. A large-scale Russian offensive in the Kursk region was confirmed by Apti Alaudinov, leader of the pro-Russian "Akhmat" special units, who claimed that Russian forces had pushed Ukrainians out of 10 settlements. Ukraine, however, asserted control over 100 settlements in the region since the offensive began on August 6.

The governor of Kursk, Andrei Smirnov, reported that the offensive caused significant economic damage to the region, estimated at 85 billion rubles (approximately 934 million US dollars), with over 150,000 people evacuated as a result.

Ukraine has been seeking military support for strikes deep into Russian territory to deter attacks on its cities. While Britain has granted permission for Ukraine to use "Storm Shadow" missiles against Russian...