Kremlin aide says NATO and the West helped Ukraine attack Russia

Kremlin aide Nikolai Patrushev said on Friday that the U.S.-led military alliance and the West were directly involved in the planning for Ukraine's attack on Russia's Kursk region.

Patrushev, in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper, said that statements by the United States that it was not involved in the attack were not true.

"The operation in the Kursk region was also planned with the participation of NATO and Western special services," Patrushev was quoted as saying.

"The statements by the U.S. leadership that it was not involved in Kyiv's crimes in the Kursk region are not true ... Without their participation and direct support, Kyiv would not have ventured into Russian territory."

The White House said Ukraine did not provide advance notice of its incursion and that Washington had no involvement in the operation.

Russia's defence ministry has published footage showing U.S. weapons on Russian sovereign territory in Kursk.