Moscow: Russian forces continued to battle Ukrainian troops for a third day on Thursday in the southwestern Kursk region after Kyiv launched an unprecedented cross-border incursion, one of the largest in the over two-year war, according to the Russian Defence Ministry. Around 1,000 Ukrainian troops supported by tanks and armoured combat vehicles crossed into Russia on August 6 through the border, taking Russia by surprise.
As per an official statement from Russia, its military and border guards have blocked Ukrainian forces from pushing deeper into the region in the southwestern part of the country and the Army is attacking Ukrainian fighters trying to advance into the area from Ukraine’s Sumy region. “Attempts by individual units to break through deep into the territory in the Kursk direction are being suppressed,” the ministry said.
The attack has not been acknowledged by Ukraine but it would be among its largest assault since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, and unprecedented for its deployment of Ukrainian military units on the front lines in the country’s east. Kyiv's aim could be to draw Russian reserves to the area, potentially weakening Moscow's offensive operations in several parts of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region where Russian forces have increased attacks and are advancing gradually toward operationally significant gains.
100 Ukrainian soldiers killed, Putin decries 'provocation'
Russia says the military has stemmed Ukrainian advances in the border area about 500 kilometres (about 320 miles) southwest of Moscow, but military bloggers and open-source data indicate Ukrainian troops have made gains in several areas in Kursk. The Kursk region’s acting governor, Alexei Smirnov, briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin on conditions there by video link on Thursday.
Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Ukrainian troops had advanced as much as 15 kilometres (9 miles) into Russian territory, but the data is yet to be confirmed. In a video address to the nation late Thursday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not mention the fighting in the Kursk region, but said "Russia brought the war to our land, and it should feel what it has done."
General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian military’s General Staff, told Putin via video link that about 100 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the battle and more than 200 others were wounded. at least five civilians, including two ambulance workers, have also been killed in the attack, as per regional authorities.
Putin, who described the incursion as a “large-scale provocation” that involved “indiscriminate shelling of civilian buildings, residential houses and ambulances” was briefed on the situation by his top military and security officials on Wednesday. He instructed the Cabinet to coordinate assistance to the Kursk region.
Ukraine launches 'massive' drone attack
Meanwhile, Russia began evacuating people from parts of its western region of Lipetsk after a massive attack" by Ukrainian drones caused explosions, disrupted power supply, and wounded six people, regional governor Igor Artamonov said. Four villages were being evacuated after a state of emergency was declared in the Lipetsk municipal district, according to Artamonov.
A fire had broken out at the air base outside the city of Lipetsk, the Interfax news agency reported local emergency officials as saying. Calls on social media to evacuate the entire city were part of a campaign of psychological warfare by Ukraine, accused the regional governor. Ukrainian authorities have not reported any strikes on the Lipetsk region.
Risks for Ukrainian soldiers
The operation could boost Ukrainian morale at a time when Kyiv's forces are facing relentless Russian attacks and are expected to face more in the coming weeks. However, it could risk stretching outmanned Ukrainian troops further along the front line, which is more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) long. Even if Russia were to commit reserves to stabilise the new front, given its vast manpower and the relatively small number of Ukrainian forces engaged in the operation, it would likely have little long-term impact.
Russian forces have swiftly repelled previous cross-border incursions, but not before they caused damage and embarrassed authorities. Smirnov said the region plans to equip gas stations with electronic warfare units and to provide them with unspecified armoured defence.
Meanwhile, the US Defence Department, or Pentagon, said Ukraine's move on the Kursk region was consistent with US policy. "They are taking actions to protect themselves from attacks that are coming from a region that are within the US policy of where they can operate, our weapons, our systems, our capabilities," Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.
(with inputs from agencies)
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