Ukraine's Kursk incursion prepared with US, UK, Poland — Russian media

Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region was prepared together with the participation of intelligence from the United States, Britain, and Poland, the newspaper Izvestia has reported, citing Russia's foreign intelligence agency.

"The Ukrainian Armed Forces operation in the Kursk region was prepared with the participation of the US, UK and Polish intelligence services," Izvestia cited the Foreign Intelligence Service as saying on Tuesday.

"The units involved in it underwent combat coordination in training centres in the UK and Germany."

Ukraine launched its surprise strike on the Russian region on August 6, the largest invasion of Russia since World War Two, in an operation that Kiev says is aimed at carving out a buffer zone and wearing down Russia's war machine.

'Reliable information'

The Foreign Intelligence Service told Izvestia that it had "reliable information" on its assertions.

The White House has said previously that the United States had no advance notice from Kiev that it planned a military incursion into Kursk.

Kiev said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces have captured 1,263 sq km of Kursk territory including 93 settlements — figures that could not be independently verified.

Russia meanwhile continues to advance in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine's military said its forces had come under multiple Russian attacks over the course of Tuesday on the Toretsk and Pokrovsk fronts in eastern Ukraine.

In a statement, the military said Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions around Toretsk, including the settlement of Niu-York, but did not say what the outcome of that fight was.

Earlier, Russia claimed that its forces had taken control of Niu-York. The Pokrovsk front is where Russia is concentrating its main attack, the Ukrainian military said.

It said its forces had repelled 49 Russian attacks on Tuesday, and that another 13 clashes were still underway.