Russia said it was battling a major border crossing for the third day in a row as Ukrainian troops advanced in the Kursk region.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that its troops were “continuing to destroy armed Ukrainian units” and were trying to push them back with air strikes, rocket and artillery fire.
She explained that reserves had been called upon and that attempts to break through deeper into the Kursk region were being thwarted.
Alexey Smirnov, the region’s acting governor, said he declared a state of emergency after pro-Ukrainian forces entered the region on Tuesday, deploying about 1,000 troops and more than two dozen armored vehicles and tanks, according to the Russian army.
Without mentioning the attacks on Kursk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday: “The more pressure we put on Russia, the closer we come to peace. A just peace through just violence.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of a “serious provocation”.
According to the Institute for War Research (ISW), Ukrainian troops have advanced up to ten kilometers into Russia. This is likely to be the most serious border crossing in the course of the conflict.
“The currently confirmed scale and location of Ukrainian advances in Kursk Oblast indicate that Ukrainian forces have breached at least two Russian defense lines and one stronghold,” the Washington DC-based think tank said in its latest update, which includes the geolocated footage.
The troops apparently tried to advance along the Sudzha-Korenovo highway, it said.
The advance was concentrated on the logistical center of Sudzha, a town of about 5,000 inhabitants, 8 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
The Health Ministry said 31 civilians were injured on Wednesday, including six children. Smirnov said the day before that five people were killed when Ukrainian troops broke through the border with tanks and armored vehicles.
Russia did not provide any information on military casualties.
Witnesses interviewed on Russian television said they fled border areas in cars as drones fired at them. A priest in Sudzha, Evgeny Shestopalov, said in a video shared by Russian media that the town was “on fire” and residents who could not be evacuated had sought shelter in his church.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not mention the incursion in its daily situation report on Wednesday. A late-night report said fighting had intensified in the Sumy region, where authorities have evacuated about 6,000 people.
It said Russian forces had deployed aircraft, helicopters and heavy weapons in the area, “but had made no progress and suffered significant losses.”
An official in the Ukrainian presidential office on Thursday blamed Moscow for the Ukrainian invasion of Russia, but stopped short of taking direct responsibility for the most serious attack on Russian territory in months.
“The real cause of every escalation, every artillery shelling, every military action, every forced evacuation and destruction of normal forms of life – including on Russian territory such as in the Kursk and Belgorod regions – is exclusively Russia’s clear aggression,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak said on social media.
The real cause of every escalation, every shelling, every military action, every forced evacuation and every destruction of normal life forms, including on the Russian Federation’s own territories, such as #josk and Belgorod regions, is only the clear aggression of Russia. This includes attempts to confiscate foreign property…
— Mikhail Podolyak (@Podolyak_M) 8 August 2024
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the United States was seeking Ukraine’s understanding of the invasion but had no prior knowledge of it.
John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, stressed that Washington has not changed its policy regarding the use of American weapons by Ukraine. These may only be used “against immediate threats just across the border.”
On X, Zelesnkyy posted that he had met with a bipartisan delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives to discuss air defense and ways to stop “any attempts by Russia to prolong this war.”
In a separate post, he also said: “F-16 fighter jets are already in Ukrainian skies and more are coming.”
Ukraine had long been looking for US F-16 fighter jets to protect its airspace from Russian missiles.
The fighting for Sudzha comes as Russia announced advances along the front line in eastern Ukraine and claimed it had taken 420 square kilometers of territory from Ukrainian forces since June 14.
Russia began its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Pro-Ukrainian forces, including Russian units fighting on Ukraine’s side such as the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Russian Freedom Legion, have since then entered Russia several times for short periods of time.
