Russia-Ukraine War: As Ukraine has pressed its incursion in some border regions of Russia, the Indian Embassy in Moscow on Wednesday issued an advisory for Indian nationals in Bryansk, Belgorod and Kursk regions, which are under attack by Kyiv's forces. Ukraine has launched a surprise attack on three border regions, unprecedented in its capability as the war continues with no end in sight.
The embassy advised Indian nationals to take necessary precautions and temporarily relocate outside the three regions, while also providing a telephone number and an email address for any person requiring assistance. This comes as Russia declared an emergency in the Belgorod border region on Wednesday under heavy shelling from Ukrainian forces.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov described the situation there as “extremely difficult and tense” as the attacks destroyed homes and caused civilian casualties, unnerving local people. Ukraine's renewed offensive has taken Russia by surprise and is the largest attack on Russia since the World War II.
What is happening in Russia?
Kyiv’s troops poured into the Kursk region from several directions early Tuesday, quickly overwhelming a few checkpoints and field fortifications manned by lightly armed border guards and infantry units along the region’s 245-km frontier with Ukraine. Unlike previous raids conducted by small groups of Russian volunteers fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, the incursion into the Kursk region reportedly involved units from several battle-hardened Ukrainian army brigades.
Caught off guard, Russian troops failed to mount a quick response to the incursion. With the bulk of the Russian army engaged in the offensive in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, few troops were left to protect the Kursk border region. The Russian units along the frontier consisted mostly of poorly trained conscript soldiers, who were easily overcome by elite Ukrainian units. Some conscripts were captured. Russian reinforcements, including elite special forces units and hardened veterans of the Wagner military contractor, later started to arrive in the Kursk region, but they so far have failed to dislodge the Ukrainian forces from Sudzha and other areas near the border.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy broke the government's silence on it late Saturday by indirectly acknowledging ongoing military actions to “push the war out into the aggressor's territory” in his nightly address. Zelenskyy reiterated calls to Western allies to step up in assistance to Ukraine, and that “to really stop Russian terror, we need not only a full-fledged air shield that will protect all our cities and communities, but also strong decisions from partners — decisions that will remove restrictions on our defensive actions.”
Ukraine expands incursion
Ukraine said on Wednesday its forces had advanced further into Russia's Kursk region, posing a dilemma for President Vladimir Putin according to US President Joe Biden. "We continue to advance further in the Kursk region," Zelenskyy wrote in a statement on Telegram, "from one to two kilometres in various areas since the start of the day. And more than 100 Russian prisoners of war in the same period."
Russia's defence ministry said 117 Ukrainian droneshad been shot down within its territory overnight, mostly in the Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod regions. It said missiles had also been downed, and showed Sukhoi Su-34 bombers striking Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region.
Later, the ministry said Russian forces had repelled a series of Ukrainian attacks inside the Kursk region, including at Russkoye Porechnoye 18 km (11 miles) from the border, and pro-Russian war bloggers said the front has been stabilised. Biden said US officials were in constant touch with Ukraine over the incursion, which he said had "created a real dilemma" for Putin.
(with inputs from agencies)
