Vladimir Putin’s forces are “advancing quicker” towards a crucial strategic town in eastern Ukraine despite Kyiv’s daring attack in Russia.

Western intelligence officials believe Moscow’s “emphasis” is still on the fierce fight for Pokrovsk.

They said the battle will take a similar pattern to the siege of Bakhmut, where Russian forces battered the city with artillery until Ukrainian troops eventually withdrew.

Analysts had suggested that Ukrainian military leaders – and President Zelensky – had hoped the attack in Kursk would have given troops in Pokrovsk, in Donetsk, some respite from months of brutal onslaughts.

Intelligence officials have highlighted the difference between the “panic” in private of Russian military leaders and the Kremlin, and their public attempt “to try and normalise the situation” as foreign troops advance on Russian land for the first time since 1941.

The attack in the Kursk region is being treated as a “nuisance” to their main objective, it is believed.

Russia is losing around 1,000 troops every day in a desperate attempt to take Pokrovsk.

Tyrant Vladimir Putin could also face the fury of Russian mothers, as an “unwritten deal” of conscription is that troops’ lives are not put at risk in their own homeland.

Conscripts are forming the bulk of the response to the Ukrainian attack in Kursk, where special forces and troops armed with Western weaponry have advanced 25 kilometres.

If Pokrovsk falls, the defeat would imperil Ukraine's defences and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of capturing the Donetsk region.

Russian soldiers are now just 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) away.

Asked about the Kursk operation, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said on Thursday that "we are still working with Ukraine on how that fits into their strategic objectives on the battlefield itself".

The US, she said, understands that Ukraine wants to build a buffer zone along the border, but the administration still has more questions about how it furthers Ukraine's broader war effort.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made his first visit to the border area, where his forces launched the offensive on August 6, on Thursday.

He said Kyiv's military had taken control of another Russian village and captured more prisoners of war.

The latest package of aid brings the total amount of US security assistance to Ukraine to more than 55.7 billion dollars since Russia's invasion in February 2022.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has been ridiculed over his “make noise for Ukraine” campaign.

Soldiers were told to 'make some noise like playing an instrument, singing, chanting, clapping, stomping your feet or honking your car horn'.

In an official Ministry of Defence promotional video, shared on X, catering staff were seen banging cooking pots with stainless steel spoons.

Health workers have been told to 'show ambulance sirens blaring' while Home Office officials are expected to post videos of 'police dogs barking'.

Former British Army commander Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said: “I'm sure Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky would appreciate more weapons much more than more videos.

“I trust the Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary are putting as much effort into these endeavours as they are uploading footage onto social media. Clips on TikTok aren't going to do anything for the Ukrainians... fighting on the front line.”