Eleanor Domin
Ukraine’s top commander has claimed that Kyiv’s forces control 1000 square km of Russian territory as they press their largest cross-border incursion in 2.5 years of full-scale war.
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, said Ukraine’s largest attack on Russian territory since the beginning of the war was aimed at improving Kyiv’s position in negotiating peace talks and slowing the advance of Russian forces. He claimed this was done with “the help of its Western masters.”
Putin continued to question what negotiations there could be with an enemy he accused of firing indiscriminately at Russian civilians and nuclear facilities. It has been claimed that retaliations are set to follow as further Ukrainian attempts to destabilise Russia’s western border are expected.
Qatar news channel Al Jazeera reported that this incursion took the Kremlin by surprise.
UKRAINE’S RESPONSE
Speaking in response to the incursion, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said the war was now coming back to Russia.
‼ Currently, about 1,000 km² of Russian territory is under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, – Syrskyi at the Staff meeting. pic.twitter.com/s9xltMXiyY
— Maria Drutska 🇺🇦 (@maria_drutska) August 12, 2024
Oleksandr Syrskyi, Zelensky’s top commander, said Ukraine continued to conduct an “offensive operation” in the Kursk region seven days after it commenced. He also said Ukraine controls 1000 square km of Russian territory, larger than the figures given by Russian officials.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN KURSK?
Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of Kursk, said Ukraine controlled 28 settlements in the region, and the incursion was about 12km deep and 40km wide.
Putin told Smirnov the military would report on such things, and to focus on updating the socio-economic situation instead.
“The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be extremely difficult and tense”
In Kursk alone, 121,000 people have already left or been evacuated. Another 59,000 were in the process of being evacuated. Civilians in Belgorod, a region in Russia bordering Kursk, are also being evacuated. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said: “The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be extremely difficult and tense.”
“Therefore, we are making a decision, starting today, to declare a regional emergency situation throughout the Belgorod region … with a subsequent appeal to the government to declare a federal emergency situation,” he added.
THE WAR ADVANCES
Ukraine has carried out a series of overnight drone attacks on Russia, igniting fires at two Russian energy facilities.
Russia’s defense ministry reported over 158 Ukrainian drones targeted 15 regions across the country, including in Moscow.
At the same time, Russian forces are continuing to make swift progress toward a key town in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which has been the center of Moscow’s ground offensive for months.
This came after Russia launched a massive wave of deadly drone and missile strikes against Ukraine’s energy grid, killing around four people.
The latest chapter of #Putin‘s war against #Ukraine had #Russia‘s military forces firing over 100 missiles and drones that killed several people overnight. The attack appears to be the Kremlin’s biggest onslaught in weeks. Read more @AP. https://t.co/k1eIp4RXpe
— Edmin De Los Santos (@HablameLatiNo) August 27, 2024
Zelenskyy said: “Like most previous Russian strikes, this one was just as vile, targeting critical civilian infrastructure.”
Russia started targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with air strikes shortly after its full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
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Featured image by Cibi Chakravarthi on Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
