Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin’s red lines ‘must be crossed to help Kyiv’ as Russia retakes Kursk villages

Nato allies should pay less attention to Vladimir Putin ’s so-called “red lines” and focus more on defeating Russia in Ukraine , Estonian president Alar Karis has said.

Speaking at the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv , Mr Karis backed Volodymyr Zelensky ’s calls to be allowed to strike deep inside Russia using Western-provided long-range missiles.

“We probably realise now that we have to cross all of these red lines and then start forcing Russia out of Ukraine,” he told the Kyiv Independent.

Russia says its forces have retaken two villages in its Kursk region as part of an ongoing counteroffensive against Ukraine’s incursion.

Ukraine says it controls about 100 villages in Kursk over an area of more than 1,300 sq km (500 sq miles), figures which Russian sources dispute.

The update from Kursk came late on Monday after Vladimir Putin issued a new decree expanding his army for the third time since he invaded Ukraine.

The order will add another 180,000 troops, taking the base size of the Russian army to 1.5 million active servicemen.