Russia said on Friday that its army would regain control of its Kursk region "in a timely manner", declining to say how soon this could be achieved.

According to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Ukrainian military exploited the situation for an offensive in the Kursk region, despite Russia knowing and preparing for the Ukrainian Armed Forces' operations for months.

Russia has been waging an aerial bombardment campaign on Ukraine's power grid since autumn 2022 after invading the country earlier that year. It has damaged or destroyed most of Ukraine's thermal power generating capacity and has sometimes hit dams, but has not yet struck any Ukrainian-controlled nuclear facilities.

Footage shot from the road shows a huge explosion at an arms depot near Tikhoretsk in Russia. Ukraine said munitions from North Korea had been among those it was targeting. The governor of the Krasnodar region confirmed it came under Ukrainian drone attack on Friday night.

Russian reports say Ukrainian drones have struck a Russian arms depot deep inside the country, triggering explosions and the closure of a major highway.