Russia says it is still fighting in the Russian border region of Kursk

This article was last updated on August 8, 2024

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Russia says it is still fighting in the Russian border region of Kursk

The Russian army is still fighting the Ukrainian army in the border region of Kursk, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow reports. The ministry also says it will carry out airstrikes on advancing reserve forces in the neighboring Ukrainian province of Sumy.

According to the ministry, attempts by Ukrainian units to break through into the region have been prevented. Early this morning, Russian military bloggers reported that Ukrainian troops were moving further into the region and had taken control of the western half of the Russian town of Sudja.

The Russian ministry reports that hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and dozens of military vehicles destroyed. These numbers cannot be independently verified. The ministry does not mention Russian losses.

Yesterday the governor of Kursk called the state of emergency out in the region. The Russian state news agency Tass reports that three thousand residents have now been evacuated from the region. At the same time, authorities in the region report that the situation is “stable and under control”.

No response Ukraine

Ukraine has not responded to reports of the fighting. Ukrainian President Zelensky also did not discuss the Russian border region in his daily update on social media. Ukraine rarely comments on attacks on Russian territory.

The adviser to the Ukrainian president, Mychajlo Podoljak, writes X that “Russia’s undeniable aggression alone is the cause of every escalation, shelling, military actions, forced evacuations and destruction of normal life forms, including on Russia’s own territory, such as the Kursk and Belgorod regions.”

Yesterday, Podoljak said that events in “this or that Russian border region” are having a psychological effect on the Russian population.

There are several air bases in Kursk and there is a power plant about 100 kilometers from the border that is crucial for the energy supply in the region.

Russian President Putin did not respond until the second day of the fighting. He called the attack on Russian territory a “major provocation”.

Russia correspondent Geert Groot Koerkamp:

“According to Russian media and politicians, the Ukrainian advance in Kursk has been halted and the operation has failed, regardless of what its purpose was. Russian news agencies are spreading video footage of, allegedly, Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles being attacked using drones and missiles disabled. It is usually impossible to determine where and when those images were taken.

At the same time, several generally well-informed military bloggers, who favor the Kremlin and support Russian actions in Ukraine, report that Ukrainian troops in Kursk have actually advanced further. There is no confirmation of that either.”