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Intense battles are taking place between Ukrainian forces and Moscow’s troops after one of the largest incursions into Russian territory since Vlasimir Putin’s invasion began – prompting the Russian president to accuse Kyiv of a “major provocation”.
The surprise incursion began on Tuesday morning, when hundreds of Ukrainian troops reportedly entered the Kursk region according to Russia’s Defence Ministry and the area’s governor, Alexei Smirnov. Kyiv has so far remained quiet about the scope of the operation.
Ukraine is reportedly gaining a “foothold” in the Kursk region and could be as far as nine miles (15km) inside the border, according to unverified reports from Russian military bloggers. Telegram Channels affiliated with Russia’s Defence Ministry have claimed that Ukrainian troops are in control of three villages in the Sudzha district of Russia’s Kursk region, which borders the Sumy region of northeast Ukraine.
Putin met with his top defense and security officials on Wednesday and instructed the Cabinet to coordinate assistance to the Kursk region. The fighting is about 320 miles (500km) from Moscow.
Official Russian sources initially said the incursion had been repelled yesterday, before admitting in the early afternoon on Wednesday that the attack was still ongoing.
Army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov told Putin at the meeting via video link that about 100 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the battle and more than 200 wounded, Russian news agencies reported. Those numbers could not be verified.
US-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, said they had geolocated a number of abandoned armoured vehicles in the Kursk region, while Russia released images claiming to show Russian missiles striking Ukrainian military vehicles which had crossed the border.
Acting governor Alexei Smirnov said civilians were being evacuated from the border area as fighting in the region was ongoing, with 300 people housed in temporary accommodation. Smirnov has also called on residents in the region to donate blood following the recent violence.
The attack may be an attempt by Ukraine to divert Russian troops away from the fronts in eastern Ukraine, such as in the Donetsk region which has been the main focus of fighting recently. Russia has already sent reservist troops to the Kursk region where the situation is “difficult”, Smirnov said.
But the incursion could risk stretching outmanned Ukrainian troops further along the front line, which is more than 600 miles long. Even if Russia were to commit reserves to stabilize the new front, given its vast manpower and the relatively small number of Ukrainian forces engaged in the operation, it would likely have little long-term impact.
However, the attack boost Ukrainian morale and embarrass the Kremlin at a time when Kyiv's forces are facing relentless Russian attacks and are expected to face more in coming weeks.
Several Ukrainian brigades stationed along the border region said they could not comment. Ukraine's Defense Ministry and General Staff said they would not comment.
Elsewhere, Russia is continuing its advance towards Pokrovsk, a key strategic hub for Ukraine’s army around 70km northwest of Donetsk city in eastern Ukraine
The General Staff of the UKrainian armt reported 42 combat clashes on the Pokrovsk front - the most of any frontline across Ukraine in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. At least 136 combat clashes were recorded across 10 fronts which included Siversk and Lyman, both north of Donetsk and the Kharkiv and Kupiansk fronts in the northeast.
At least three people had been reported dead and 25 injured over the past day up until early this morning, regional authorities said But at lunchtime, four more people were reported killed following shelling in the Donetsk region, governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.
Meanwhile, it was a difficult day for Kyiv in diplomatic terms, as Niger became the second African country to cut ties with Ukraine, amid a row over the Kyiv’s alleged support for a rebel attack last month which killed dozens of Malian soldiers and mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group.
Ukrainian outlets reported that Andriy Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency GUR, had admitted Kyiv’s support for the Tuareg rebels who claimed responsibility for the attack on Mali’s border with Algeria.
Reports suggested Yusov said “the rebels received all the necessary information they needed”, but he told the Financial Times that he had made “no such statement”.
Mali also announced two days ago that they had severed diplomatic ties, in a decision which Ukraine described as “short-sighted and hasty”.
It is a blow to President Zelensky’s efforts to build relations with countries in Africa, an aim which he set out in December 2023 for the year ahead.
Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has nevertheless been on a tour in Africa, meeting Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera on Monday before meeting his Zambian counterpart yesterday - where the two foreign ministers signed a “memorandum of understanding”.
To conclude the three-stop tour, Kuleba will visit Mauritius later this week.
