Ukraine yesterday pressed its offensive in Russian territory and bombarded the border region of Belgorod, where the governor has declared a state of emergency.
Ukrainian forces entered Kursk region on Tuesday last week and have taken dozens of settlements in the biggest attack by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday evening posted footage of a video call with his military chief, Oleksandr Syrsky, who said that “as of today, our troops have advanced in some areas by one to three kilometers.”
Photo: Reuters
Over the past day, “control over 40 square kilometers of territory has been taken” and “74 settlements are under our control,” Syrsky added.
The head of Belgorod yesterday declared a state of emergency, saying that the situation was “extremely difficult” in the Russian border region under Ukrainian bombardment.
“The situation in our Belgorod region remains extremely difficult and tense due to shellings from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Houses are destroyed, civilians died and were injured,” Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.
Photo: AFP
Belgorod, which borders Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, had also come under drone attack, Gladkov wrote.
After a week of the Ukrainian advance, Syrsky on Monday said that his troops controlled about 1,000km2 of Russian territory.
Kursk Governor Alexei Smirnov on Monday said that 28 settlements had been captured and Ukrainian forces had penetrated at least 12km deep.
An Agence France-Presse analysis of data provided by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) indicated that Ukrainian troops had advanced over an area of at least 800km2 of Russian territory as of Monday.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that the incursion was giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a “real dilemma.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense on Tuesday said that its troops “continue to repel” Ukrainian assaults and had “foiled” attacks by “mobile groups in armored vehicles.”
Ukraine said it would not hold on to Russian territory it had captured and offered to stop raids if Moscow agreed a “just peace.”
Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Georgiy Tykhy said that Kyiv was not interested in “taking over” Russian territory and defended Ukraine’s actions as “absolutely legitimate.”
“The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace ... the sooner the raids by the Ukrainian defense forces into Russia will stop,” Tykhy told reporters.
More than 120,000 Russians have fled their homes in border areas of Kursk region.
Ukraine said it was imposing movement restrictions in the Sumy region along the border due to an “increase in the intensity of hostilities” and “sabotage” activities.
Since launching its invasion in February 2022, Russia has captured territory in southern and eastern Ukraine, and subjected Ukrainian cities to missile and drone barrages.
Ukraine has found itself outgunned and has struggled after some early successes in pushing Russian forces back in 2022.
The current offensive into Kursk region, which caught Russia off guard, is by far the biggest cross-border action since the invasion.
On the Ukraine side of a border crossing into Kursk, reporters saw toppled concrete fortifications and caved-in remains of security and customs buildings, revealing the intensity of the fighting that swept through the area.
On the road, about 10 blindfolded and bound men in Russian military fatigues were being driven in a military vehicle away from the border crossing in the direction of the city of Sumy.
“They didn’t protect the border,” a Ukrainian serviceman who took part in the offensive and identified himself as Ruzhyk told reporters in Sumy region. “They only had anti-personnel mines scattered around trees at the side of the road and a few mines that they managed to quickly throw along the highways.”
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