Kremlin says it has retaken 10 villages with Kursk counterattack under way

Russia says its forces have recaptured 10 settlements after it launched a counteroffensive in the Kursk region to push out Ukrainian troops who stormed across the border five weeks ago.

- Luke Harding

With fierce fighting continuing, Russia's defence ministry listed the names of 10 settlements it said it had retaken, in a significant blow to Kyiv. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, acknowledged a Russian counteroffensive had begun.

It follows Ukraine's surprise cross-border attack last month into western Russia. Zelenskiy said his armed forces had anticipated Russia's assault this week and the operation was still going to plan.

A mechanised raid began on Tuesday, according to Russian military bloggers. Russian forces pushed forward from the village of Korenevo and quickly advanced south into Snagost. They have regained a number of villages, with two more Krasnooktyabrskoe and Komarovka -reportedly having been captured yesterday. One objective was to "bisect" Ukraine's 400 sq mile salient within Russia, cutting off its western flank, observers suggested.

The next step would be "a more organised and well-equipped effort to push Ukrainian forces" out of Russia completely, the Institute for the Study of War thinktank said. It acknowledged that the situation was fluid, with the size and scale of the counteroffensive unclear.