Putin says Russian troops crossed into Ukraine from Kursk region overnight. Ukraine says he’s lying

Russian premier Vladimir Putin today said that a brigade of Russian troops had crossed into Ukrainian territory overnight.

His comments have fuelled speculation of a ground attack on Ukraine’s Sumy region for the first time since Russia retreated from there in 2022.

“I was told an hour ago that at night fighters of the 810th brigade crossed the border of the Russian Federation and Ukraine and entered the territory of the enemy,” Putin said in televised remarks, referring to a brigade state media reported was deployed to Russia’s Kursk region near the border with Ukraine’s Sumy region.

However, Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council’s Center for Countering Disinformation said: “Putin’s information about a large-scale Russian offensive is a lie.”

Meanwhile German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has dismissed explosive claims from US president Donald Trump that Kyiv had “started” the fighting.

In a statement she said: “No one but Putin started or wanted this war in the heart of Europe.”