But a week after it began, the overall aim of the daring operation is still unclear: Will Ukraine dig in and keep the conquered territory, advance further into Russian territory or pull back? What is clear is that the incursion has changed the battlefield.

Russia began evacuating thousands more people from its border regions on Thursday after Ukraine said it was advancing deeper into the country in a lightning incursion aimed at forcing Moscow to slow its advance along the rest of the front.

A partnership between Russia and Iran is allegedly deepening, according to the Pentagon. In a press conference on Thursday, Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh responded to a journalist's question regarding a recent meeting between leaders of the two nations.

Ukraine on Thursday claimed fresh advances in its offensive into Russia, saying it had seized over  1,100 square kilometres in the biggest attack by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II.Russia said it had recaptured a first village from Ukrainian forces in the Kursk border region and announced it was sending "additional forces" to the neighbouring Belgorod region.

Ukrainian forces said they accepted the surrender of the largest single group of Russian soldiers since the start of the war more than two years ago, as Kyiv’s military claimed to continue expanding its cross-border incursion.