Moscow (Agencies)
The Russian military is trying to repel a major Ukrainian border incursion for the third day in a row, Moscow said yesterday, as independent analysts said Kyiv’s forces had advanced as far as 10 kilometres (six miles) into Russia.
Pro-Kiev forces stormed the Kursk region in southwestern Russia on Tuesday morning, deploying more than 1,000 troops and more than 20 armored vehicles and tanks, according to the Russian military.
The attack appears to be the largest cross-border assault carried out by Ukraine since Russia launched its large-scale military operation in February 2022.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced yesterday that its forces “continue to destroy” Ukrainian units and are resorting to air strikes, missile and artillery shelling to confront them.
It said it had urgently called up reserve forces and was “thwarting attempts to penetrate” deeper into the Kursk region.
The US-based independent Institute for the Study of War reported that Ukraine had made significant territorial gains in the first two days of the incursion.
“Ukrainian forces have made a definite advance of up to 10 kilometers into Russia’s Kursk Oblast amid ongoing mechanized offensive operations on Russian territory,” he said.
“The current confirmed size and location of the Ukrainian advance in Kursk Oblast indicates that Ukrainian forces have penetrated at least two Russian defense lines and a stronghold,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the operation a “large-scale provocation” by Kyiv and Moscow has vowed to crush the incursion.
The surprise attack appeared to catch the Russian military by surprise, drawing criticism of its top commanders from the country’s influential military bloggers.
The Ukrainian advance focused on Sudzha, a town of about 5,000 people and a logistics hub, located eight kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Russian military bloggers with ties to the military said yesterday that Kiev had made significant progress.
“The situation is complicated and continues to deteriorate,” blogger Yuriy Podolyaka said in a post on Telegram. “Sudja has been completely lost.”
The Dva Mayura channel on Telegram reported that Russia was “consolidating its positions, indicating that the fighting will likely be protracted.”
Russian energy giant Gazprom said yesterday it would continue to ship gas through the Sudzha metering station, the last transit point for Russian gas heading to Europe via Ukraine.
Moscow also announced that its forces destroyed a US-made Bradley fighting vehicle that Ukraine was using in the incursion.
The Defense Ministry initially blamed a pro-Ukrainian “sabotage group” for the operation, but indicated that the Ukrainian military was the party carrying it out.
Pro-Kiev militias, including those made up of Russian citizens fighting against Moscow, have carried out several previous cross-border attacks.
But the recent incursion into the Kursk region appears to be the most successful and organized attempt by Ukraine to penetrate Russian territory.
Kyiv’s goals remain unclear, with some analysts suggesting it is an attempt to wear down the Russian army and force it to move units from the eastern Donetsk region where it is advancing.
The White House announced the day before yesterday that it is in contact with Kiev to learn more about the “goals” of the Ukrainian forces’ incursion into Russian territory in the Kursk border region.
Asked about the Ukrainian military operation that has seen thousands of civilians evacuated on both sides of the border, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: “We will be in touch with the Ukrainian military to learn more about their objectives.”
Last May, US President Joe Biden allowed Kiev to use American weapons to strike targets inside Russia near the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine, which is under Russian attack.
But US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stressed that “nothing has changed” in US policy rejecting any Ukrainian strike deep inside Russian territory.
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