kyiv's forces advanced tens of kilometers into Russian territory, forcing Moscow to call up reserves. The fighting is concentrated around Sudzha, an important logistics center. Local authorities declared a state of emergency and there are thousands of evacuees
The Russian army faced off against the Ukrainian troops who crossed the Russian border in the region of Kursk, a bold attack against the world's largest nuclear power that has forced Moscow to call in reserves.
In one of the largest Ukrainian attacks against Russia of the two-year war, around 1.000 Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Russian border in the early hours of August 6 with tanks and armored vehicles, covered in the air by swarms of drones and artillery, according to Russian officials.
Ukrainian forces advanced through the fields and forests of the border towards the north of the border town of sudja, the last operational transshipment point for Russian natural gas to Europe through Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin called the attack “great provocation.” The White House said the United States, Ukraine's biggest backer, had no prior knowledge of the attack and would ask kyiv for more details.
The highest-ranking Russian general, Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, informed Putin on Wednesday that the Ukrainian offensive had stopped in the border area.
“The operation to destroy Ukrainian army units continues” with airstrikes, rockets and artillery fire against troops who entered two border districts, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
The Ministry added that sent reserves to the raid site to help “contain trespass attempts” further into Kursk.
However, some Russian bloggers criticized the state of border defense in the Kursk region, stating that it had been too easy for Ukrainian forces to break through.
Several of them said that The fighting continued on Thursday and that civilians were being evacuated.
"sudja It is basically lost to us. And this is an important logistics center”Said Yuri Podoliaka, a popular Ukrainian-born pro-Russian military blogger, who added that Ukrainian forces were pushing north toward Lgov.
"Generally, the situation is difficult and continues to get worse, despite the fact that the pace of the Ukrainian offensive has decreased noticeably,” he said. He added that Sudzha was “full of Ukrainian soldiers”.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it was repelling the attacks, but military bloggers and independent experts denied this
“The enemy is gaining ground, which indicates that the fighting will be long-term,” noted the Telegram channel Dva Mayora.
Several military bloggers also reported that Ukrainian forces are advancing to the town of Korenevo, more than 25 km from the border.
El Institute for the Study of War (HEI) stated that “Ukrainian forces have done confirmed advances of up to 10 km in the Russian Kursk region”.
“The confirmed magnitude and location of Ukrainian advances in the Kursk region indicate that Ukrainian forces They crossed at least two defensive lines and a Russian bastion“added the US-based think tank.
The Ukrainian military has remained silent on the Kursk offensive, but the Ukrainian presidential advisor, Mikhailo Podolyak, assured that the operation is a consequence of Russian “aggression” against his country.
“The primary cause of all escalation, all bombing, all military action (…), even within the territory of the Russian Federation such as the Kursk and Belgorod regions, is solely Russian aggression,” Podolyak published in X.
Without mentioning the attacks in Kursk, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, declared on Wednesday that “the more pressure we put on Russia (…) the closer we will be to achieving peace. A just peace through a just force".
Medvedev threat
The battles around sudja are produced in a crucial moment of the conflict, the largest ground war in Europe since World War II. kyiv is concerned that US support could decline if Republican Donald Trump wins the November presidential election.
Trump has said he would end the war and both Russia and Ukraine are eager to obtain the strongest possible negotiating position on the battlefield.
Ukraine wants to immobilize the Russian army, which control 18% of its territory, although the strategic importance of the border offensive was not immediately clear.
former russian president Dmitri Medvedev claimed that the Ukrainian attack was an attempt to force Russia to divert resources from the front and show the West that Ukraine could still fight.
As a result of the Kursk attack, Medvedev said, Russia should expand its war goals to include the takeover of all of Ukraine.
“From this moment on, the Special Military Operation should acquire an openly extraterritorial character”Medvedev said, adding that the Russian army should go to Odessa, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mikolaiv, kyiv “and beyond.”
“We will only stop when we consider it acceptable and profitable for us.”
The gas continued to flow through sudja by Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhhorod gas pipeline, which was carrying about 14.650 billion cubic meters of gas in 2023, about half of Russian gas exports to Europe.
The Russian National Guard said there were reinforced security around the Kursk nuclear power plant, located about 60 kilometers northeast of the city.
The governor of the Kursk region proposed on Wednesday night declare a state of emergency, which gives authorities the power to restrict movement, in an attempt to control the situation.
Thousands of people have been evacuated on both sides of the border.
Source: INFOBAE