Russia wants to hear criticism of Ukraine attack, ‘but Kyiv is within its rights’

Russia has complained to the United Nations Security Council about “Ukrainian atrocities against the civilian population”, now that Ukrainian troops have occupied Russian territory in the Kursk region for more than a week. According to Russian Governor Smirnov, twelve Russian citizens are known to have died.

“They keep repeating that Ukraine has the right to defend itself, while talking about attacks against the civilian population,” Russian Ambassador Polyanskiy said. at a meeting of the Security Council. “We have not heard a word of criticism from Western supporters of the Kyiv regime over these actions.”

The American representative on the Security Council kicks the ball back to Russia. “There is no doubt which country has committed war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine.”

The Minister of Defense of the Netherlands also confirms today that, according to the position of the European Union, Ukraine has the right to defend itself, even if this is across its own border. “It is important to keep emphasizing that Russia is the aggressor in this war,” Minister Brekelmans told NOS.

The laws of war also allow this, says Marieke de Hoon, associate professor of international law. “As long as military targets are attacked. Zelensky understands that he will lose a lot of support if he attacks civilian targets now.”

More and more civilians are fleeing the southern parts of Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops surprised friend and foe a week ago by crossing the border. On Monday, Ukraine’s military leadership said its troops had taken over about 1,000 square kilometers of territory. It is impossible to prove whether Ukraine owns that much land.

Russia announced today that it has taken additional measures to protect and secure the nuclear power plant near Kursk. The army says that they are paying special attention to attacks by drones. The plant is located about 100 kilometers from the border of Ukraine.

According to the Russian authorities, more than 120,000 people evacuated in the area. Also in the neighboring province Belgorod residents of some towns have been moved to safer places as a precaution. The governor has declared a state of emergency. “The situation remains very difficult and tense,” Gladkov said in a video on his Telegram channel.

The governor reported drone attacks on the towns of Shebekino and Ustinka during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. According to Gladkov, no injuries were reported, but damage was done. Authorities in nearby Voronezh and Bryansk also reported drone attacks.

Does the law of war now allow Ukraine to occupy enemy territory? “Yes, that’s allowed,” De Hoon explains. “Since Russia is the aggressor in this war, that means Ukraine is allowed to defend itself. This also includes attacking the places where enemy missiles fired. So if that’s on Russian territory, that’s allowed.”

Zelensky has so far not revealed much about the purpose of the operation. In his daily video message, he said on Monday that Ukraine is “letting the war come home” to “bring peace to Russia”. A US government official told Reuters that Kyiv wants to force Russia to withdraw some of its troops from Ukraine and move them to Kursk.

In addition, military analysts say that Ukrainian soldiers may want to take their place in order to gain a stronger position in any future negotiations. “That’s allowed too,” says De Hoon. “What is not allowed is claiming the land, i.e. annexing it. That would be an attack, as Russia did in Crimea.”

Another reason cited is that Zelensky wants to reassure his own people in the effectiveness of the military. The failed summer offensive a year ago made Ukrainians more pessimistic about the armed forces, polls showed.

how come a widespread attack on Ukraine it is still not clear. According to an official, thousands of soldiers are active in the area, but the exact number has not been disclosed. It is also unclear how much Russia can repel the attack. The reporting on this is very little from both sides. Little is known about the number of victims. There are no independent monitors in the area.

This is how Ukrainian troops crossed the border last week: