Ukrainian military video shows attack on Russian border checkpoint
Ukraine’s 80th Air Assault Brigade claims to have captured over 50 Russians in Kursk region
80th Air Assault Brigade via Storyful
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that a stunning offensive by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region would create a “buffer zone on the territory of the aggressor” to prevent Russian attacks on Ukraine.
Earlier, Zelensky said that Ukrainian forces were strengthening their positions in Kursk and that “the foothold of our presence has become stronger.”
Zelensky also praised his invading fighters for capturing Russian soldiers, saying the effort “replenishes our exchange fund” and will speed up the release of Ukrainian troops and civilians held by the Russians.
“Our main task now is… to destroy as much of Russia’s military potential as possible and to carry out maximum offensive countermeasures,” Zelensky said.
Ukrainian forces appeared determined to repel any Russian effort to retake the roughly 400 square miles of territory they have occupied for nearly two weeks. The Ukrainian air force commander said a second bridge in the area had been badly damaged as Kyiv tries to blunt Russian combat operations. “One more bridge is missing,” air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine raid: Why was the Russian reaction slow?
Developments:
∎ Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly downplayed the incursion, calling it a “posturing” and accusing the United States and the West of planning it. U.S. officials have said they had no prior knowledge of the Ukrainian attack.
∎ Two women were wounded in Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s border region of Belgorod, the region’s commander, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said.
Senior officials in Kursk’s Kurinovo district said on Sunday that residents who fled fighting as Ukrainian forces swept into the area were unable to return to their homes. Marina Degtyareva said the situation there remained “very difficult,” adding that people who insisted on returning home were creating problems for the Russian military and that some attempts “led to terrible tragedies.” She said in a social media post that residents would be notified when it was safe.
The incursion, which Russian authorities say has led to the evacuation of more than 120,000 civilians, has come as a shock to many people living in the Kursk region along the border with Ukraine.
“No one expected that this kind of conflict would be possible in the Kursk region,” said Yan Furtsev, a member of the local opposition party Yabloko. Euronews“That’s why there’s this confusion and panic, because people are arriving (from frontline areas) and they’re scared, very scared.”
Russia carried out its third ballistic missile attack on Kyiv this month on Sunday, the Ukrainian capital’s military administration said, but initial data suggested most of the shells were shot down. The attacks were six days apart, Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on Telegram. They appeared to be Moscow’s response to a stunningly successful Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.
“This is the third ballistic strike on the capital in August, with an exact interval of six days between each attack,” Popko said. There were no reports of casualties, but regional governor Ruslan Kravchenko said two private homes were destroyed and 16 others damaged by falling debris in the latest attack.
Russia invaded Ukraine two and a half years ago and now controls nearly 20% of its territory in the east and south.
Contributed by: Reuters