KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s armed forces said they used U.S. precision bombs to strike Russia’s Kursk region and had retaken some territory in the eastern Kharkiv region that had been under Russian attack since the spring.
Ukrainian Air Force Commander Colonel-General Mykola Oleshchuk released a video Thursday evening that he claims shows a Russian platoon base being bombed in Kursk, where Ukrainian forces launched a surprise cross-border incursion on Aug. 6. He said the attack with U.S.-supplied GBU-39 bombs resulted in Russian casualties and destroyed equipment.
The video showed multiple explosions and columns of smoke rising from the site.
Many of Ukraine’s supporters oppose the country’s use of donated weapons for anything other than defense purposes. However, Ukraine has claimed that its incursion into Kursk is primarily defensive and aimed at reducing attacks on Ukrainian territory from that Russian region.
U.S. officials said Washington supports Ukraine’s use of short-range weapons such as glide bombs in cross-border attacks. The United States has so far only restricted the use of the longer-range ATACMS missiles for attacks deep inside Russia.
U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day that he spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday “to express America’s unwavering support for the people of Ukraine.” Biden also announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine, including air defense missiles, anti-drone equipment, anti-tank missiles and mobile rocket systems.
White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby said Friday that U.S. officials were in near-daily contact with their Ukrainian counterparts and had made no recent changes to guidance on how U.S. weapons could be used in the Kursk attack.
“They are allowed to use U.S.-provided materiel to defend themselves against Russian aggression,” Kirby told reporters in Washington. “And as you know, the president has authorized them to use U.S. munitions across that border to deal with imminent threats.”
Kirby added that it is unclear how successful the Ukrainian operation in Kursk will be in the long term. Russian officials reported on Friday some success in pushing back Ukrainian forces in some areas of the Kursk region.
Separately, Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade said its forces had advanced nearly two square kilometers (about three-quarters of a square mile) in the Kharkiv region. No details have been released about the timing, scope or size of the attack, and it is difficult to predict its impact on the battlefield.
Ukrainian forces gained new momentum this month after delayed U.S. arms shipments were finally released, and Kyiv launched a surprise attack on Russia’s western Kursk region earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has intensified its drone war against military and fuel targets, which has sparked deep fires in Russia this week. On Friday, new details emerged about the damage and casualties caused by some of those drone attacks.
A Ukrainian drone attack on a remote Russian air base in the Volgograd region has badly damaged an airfield said to house glide bombs used by Moscow in the war, satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press showed Friday.
Meanwhile, Russia’s state news agency TASS reported on Friday that an attack on a cargo ferry in the port of Kavkaz in Russia’s Krasnodar region on Thursday left 13 people injured. TASS quoted health officials as saying that four of the injured were taken to hospital while another person remained missing.
Ukraine’s gains Reshaping the battlefield The outcome has boosted Ukrainian morale 10 years after Russia first invaded their country, and two and a half years after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion that has led to mass death and destruction and created Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II.
Ukraine and its Western allies hope this renewed momentum will strengthen Kyiv’s position on the diplomatic front.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kyiv, where he met President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, has been closely watched. There are Ukrainian hopes that Modi, who has maintained friendly relations and economic ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, will play a role in shaping Peace mediation.
The Russian raid highlighted Russian vulnerabilities but also increased pressure on Ukrainian forces already fighting on a front line stretching hundreds of kilometers. The raid may have weakened Ukraine’s ability to push back Russian forces that have been slowly but steadily gaining ground in the Donetsk region, distracting Ukrainian forces that could have bolstered their defenses there.
It is unclear how long Ukraine will be able to hold onto the territory it has seized from Russia.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday its forces had repelled Ukrainian attempts to advance toward the villages of Borki and Malaya Lukhnya in the Kursk region. The ministry also said it had destroyed a reconnaissance and sabotage group near Kamyshevka, 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Sudzha, which the Ukrainians had captured.
Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Division said in a statement late Thursday that Ukrainian soldiers had taken control of an area held by a Russian battalion and some strongholds.
Brigade commander Andrei Beletsky said they attacked Russian forces that were superior “and won,” adding that the ratio of forces on the battlefield was 2.5:1 in Moscow’s favor.
The Associated Press could not independently verify the claims, and there was no immediate comment from Russia.
In May, Russia launched an offensive in the Kharkiv region, which made some gains but quickly stalled. The fighting in that area has subsided as the Russian military focuses its efforts on Donetsk, part of the industrial Donbas region that Moscow has formally annexed but does not fully control.
Russia’s spring advance on Kharkiv is seen as a sign of Ukraine’s weakening position amid delays in Western military aid.
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Jira contributed to this report from Warsaw, Poland. Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Aamer Madhani in Washington and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, also contributed to this report.
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