Joe McConnell
NewsUkraine says its armed forces are continuing to advance into Russian territory, moving in several directions.
Russia’s border region of Kursk was subjected to a surprise attack last week, prompting Russian authorities to declare a state of emergency in the area.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said troops had advanced 1-2 km further into Kursk since Wednesday morning and had also captured 100 Russian soldiers. But Russia says it has stopped any further advance.
Now in its second week, this is Ukraine’s deepest incursion into Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
The extent of the confiscated Russian territory is uncertain and statements made by the two countries are conflicting.
A commander of the Chechen special forces unit Akhmat, Major General Apti Alaudinov, told viewers of Russian state TV, Channel One, that Russian forces had almost “completely blocked” the Ukrainian army’s advance.
But in a video link with President Zelensky, army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Ukrainian troops were now in full control of the Kursk border town of Sudzha.
The BBC is unable to independently verify this claim, but a Ukrainian television report filmed inside the city shows Ukrainian soldiers removing a Russian flag from a school.
Following Kiev’s claims of territorial gains, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhy said they were not interested in “grabbing” Russian territory.
“The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace… the sooner the incursions of Ukrainian defense forces into Russia will stop,” he told reporters.
In an earlier meeting with government officials, Zelensky said he would consider establishing “military commanders’ offices” in the region.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk on Wednesday outlined plans for a “security zone” in Kursk to protect Ukraine’s borders.
In his Telegram post, he said that Ukraine would organize humanitarian aid for Russian civilians inside the safe zone and open evacuation corridors to both Russia and Ukraine.
Russia had earlier declared a second state of emergency, this time in the nearby Belgorod region, where homes were damaged by drone strikes and shelling.
Moscow says it shot down 117 drones overnight, which mainly targeted four regions: Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod.
Long-range drones were also launched against Russia’s Voronezh and Kursk airports, as well as Savasleyka and Borisoglebsk, Ukrainian security services told AFP.
The Ukrainian military quoted a source in the intelligence services as saying that they had a “fun” night at the airports during the night, in what was a specially planned operation.
In his first comments on the operation since its inception, US President Joe Biden said the offensive was “creating a real dilemma for Putin”.
Meanwhile, several European allies have expressed their support for Ukraine.
The prime ministers of Finland and Estonia said they supported Ukraine’s military operation in Kursk, while Latvia’s foreign minister went further, saying Kiev “has the right” to use NATO weapons on Russian territory.
President Putin had previously called it a “red line”.
Last week, the German Foreign Ministry said that Ukraine has the right to self-defense, which is “not limited to its own territory.”
