Moscow has mounted a “counter-terror operation” in three border regions adjoining Ukraine to halt Kiev’s biggest cross-border offensive in the two-and-a-half-year military operation. Ukrainian units stormed across the border into Russia’s western Kursk region on Tuesday morning in a shock attack and have advanced several kilometres, according to independent analysts. Russia’s army has rushed in extra troops and equipment, including convoys of tanks, rocket launchers and aviation units, though neither side has given precise details on the extent of the forces they have committed.
