A Ukrainian military vehicle filled with captured Russian soldiers moves along Ukraine’s border with Russia on Tuesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine has captured hundreds of Russian fighters since the country launched an invasion of Russia’s western Kursk region on August 6.
Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images
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Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces have attacked a second border area in western Russia, according to the territory’s Russian governor, who declared a state of emergency on Wednesday.
The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said the Ukrainian military was firing artillery and launching drone attacks on the Russian side of the border. He described the situation as “extremely difficult and tense” in a post on his website. Telegram Channelwhere he also declared a state of emergency for the entire Belgorod region.
He added that there were many Russian civilians casualties but did not provide specific figures.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a declare that they shot down more than 100 Ukrainian drones and four missiles in Belgorod and several other regions of Russia in attacks that took place last night that appeared to target Russian air bases.
Belgorod is located next to the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops launched a surprise invasion last week and still hold a large part of Russian territory.
Ukraine has carried out cross-border attacks on Belgorod before, including in recent months. Ukrainians opened fire on the territory in an attempt to stop a Russian offensive against Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, which is just 20 miles from the border. So far, at least, the Ukrainians have kept the Russians from entering the city.
However, the latest Ukrainian offensive has taken on more urgency as the Ukrainian campaign in Kursk has entered its ninth day.
There were no reports of Ukrainian troops entering Belgorod. The Ukrainian government and military did not immediately comment on the latest developments.
Ukraine says operations in Russia are progressing
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, gave an upbeat assessment of Ukraine’s operation in Kursk when he spoke via video link with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday.
The commander said Ukrainian forces continued to advance and had captured a large number of Russian troops. He claimed Ukraine now controlled 74 villages and towns in the Kursk region and held about 400 square miles of Russian territory.
“There are battles going on all over the front lines,” Syrskyi told the president.
A day earlier, Russia’s acting governor of Kursk admitted that Russia had lost control of 28 villages and towns, and that Ukrainian forces had seized an area of the border about 25 miles wide and seven miles deep. He also said more than 100,000 Russian civilians had fled the area.
While the various figures cannot be independently verified, they reflect the significant scale of the Ukrainian operation, which is believed to have involved thousands of troops from multiple brigades. According to military analysts, Ukraine sent tanks and other armored vehicles into Russia, as well as air defense and electronic warfare equipment.
In a video address in the evening, Zelenskyy said, “hundreds of Russian soldiers have surrendered and all of them will be treated humanely. They are not treated like that even in their own Russian army.”
Russian residents in the western Kursk region board buses on Monday as part of a mass evacuation following a Ukrainian military operation. Russian officials say more than 100,000 civilians have fled Kursk in the past week.
Press service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry/AP
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Press service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry/AP
Ukraine hinted but did not specify its goals.
Ukraine has not made clear its military objectives for operations inside Russia. But Zelenskyy and other officials have indicated that the goal is not to hold Russian territory for a long time.
They believe Ukraine wants to send Russian troops to the Kursk region in the hope that this will relieve pressure on Ukrainian forces struggling to hold their positions on the main front in eastern Ukraine. Russia has made incremental advances in the Donbas region, where it has more troops and firepower than the Ukrainians.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia’s priority is to regain its territory in Kursk, and the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that it would send more troops, as well as more aircraft and artillery, to the Kursk region. Russia appears to be preparing for a major counterattack, but so far its response has been limited.
There is no concrete evidence that Russia is using the forces currently fighting in eastern Ukraine. However, some media report Russia has withdrawn a limited number of fighter jets from southern Ukraine to the Kursk region, the Defense Ministry said.
