Ukraine stopped Russian advances

Ukraine's army chief yesterday ordered defensive lines to be built more quickly in the northeastern Sumy region, as Russian forces gained ground towards the industrial Dnipropetrovsk region.

Sumy lies over the border from Russia's Kursk region where Ukrainian forces launched an audacious land grab last year that Moscow took months to push back, with the help of North Korean forces.

Kyiv says Russia, which invaded Ukraine more than three years ago, has now amassed 50,000 troops with the goal of advancing deeper into the Sumy region.

"The advance of Russian troops in the border areas of Sumy region has been halted, and the line of combat has stabilised," Oleksandr Syrskyi said in the statement about his visit to the front.

"Work is ongoing, but it needs to be accelerated, given the demands of modern warfare," he said.

Syrsky said "anti-drone corridors" - often comprising physical barriers like netting -- were needed to protect Ukrainian troops and logistics routes. The speed at which this work was being carried out "must be significantly increased", he added.