Key Russian air defence system hit in Ukraine Atacms strike

Russia has made a rare admission, saying that a key air defence system and an air base in the Kursk region were hit by Ukraine with US-supplied Atacms missiles.

The defence ministry statement, which threatened retaliation, came a day after Ukraine said it had hit targets in the region.

Meanwhile Ukraine's air force said Russia launched a record 188 drones in a single attack on Monday night, damaging critical infrastructure.

Tensions have been high since the US reportedly allowed Ukraine to use Atacms missiles on targets inside Russia last week, in response to Russia deploying North Korean troops.

A record 188 drones and four Iskander missiles attacked Ukraine overnight, the country's air force said on Tuesday.

It said 76 of them had been shot down while another 95 had been "lost track of", and that critical infrastructure and residential buildings had been hit.

Some 70% of the power of the western Ternopil region was cut, its governor said.

Meanwhile the exiled Russian investigative news website Agentstvo has claimed that Ukraine is now losing territory at the fastest rate since the early days of the full-scale invasion.

However, Russian gains in eastern Ukraine are still extremely slow compared to the rapid advances of February and March 2022, when its forces came close to the capital Kyiv.