Russia and Ukraine: Ukraine invades Russian territory and fighting looms over Kursk nuclear power plant – BBC News Arabic

In his video speech late Saturday afternoon, Zelensky said the Ukrainian military was pushing the war into “the territory of the aggressor.”

Kiev launched the surprise attack on Tuesday, and its forces quickly advanced more than 10 kilometers into Russia.

A Ukrainian official told AFP that the Ukrainian offensive into Russia’s Kursk region is aimed at “dispersing” Moscow’s forces and “destabilizing the situation in Russia”.

The security officer explains: “We are in a state of attack, and the aim is to disperse the enemy’s position, to inflict the maximum amount of losses, to destabilize the situation in Russia, and to transfer the war to Russian territory, because they cannot do that. protect their borders.”

Russia’s military announced on Wednesday that Ukraine had sent 1,000 troops to take part in the attack, which surprised the Kremlin, but a Ukrainian official told Agence France-Presse that “more than that’s it,” estimating the number at “thousands. “

For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that its forces were against Ukrainian forces near the towns of Tolbino and Obshi Kolodze, when the attack in the Kursk region entered its sixth day.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Kiev of “terrorizing the peaceful population of Russia.” “

In his speech yesterday, President Zelensky thanked the “heroes” of Ukraine, and said that he discussed the process of blocking the Russian border with the top military commander of the country, Oleksandr Sersky.

He said, “Ukraine proves that it is indeed capable of restoring justice and ensuring that the necessary pressure is on the aggressor. “

In the latest developments in the war, local Ukrainian officials said Sunday that the capital, Kiev, and several other regions of Ukraine were attacked by Russians with drones and missiles in the early hours of the morning. – today.

So far, Russia is “struggling” to stop Ukraine’s advance inside its territory, evacuating more than 76,000 people from the Kursk region and deploying an “anti-terrorist” regime in three border regions.

This means that the authorities in Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions have the right to restrict the movement of people and vehicles and tap phones, among other measures they plan to implement.

Fighting has continued inside Russia since Saturday night, and the governor of Kursk, Alexei Smirnov, said early Sunday that a “fake” attack by Ukraine had left several casualties.

It was earlier reported that 13 people were injured late Saturday when debris from a Ukrainian missile fell on a multi-storey building in the regional capital, Kursk.

The governors of the neighboring Voronezh and Belgorod regions also reported an attack by a Ukrainian drone during the night, without talking about any casualties.

In Ukraine, a 35-year-old man and his four-year-old son were killed in the Kiev region when shrapnel from a missile fell on residential homes, Ukraine’s emergency services said Sunday.

Three others were injured, including a 13-year-old boy.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote a post on Telegram early in the morning, in which he said that air defense units were “doing their duty,” asking civilians to stay in shelters.

Ukraine’s rare incursion into Russia began on Tuesday morning, when up to 1,000 troops, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, entered the Kursk region, Russia said.

The Ukrainians have since captured several small towns, and are also threatening the regional city of Sodja.

On Friday, a video clip emerged showing Ukrainian armed forces claiming control of the city, as well as a major Russian gas facility there owned by Gazprom.

The BBC’s fact-finding team has confirmed that the footage did indeed come from a Gazprom facility on the north-western outskirts of Sodja, around 7 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. But the video alone cannot be used as evidence of the accusation that the Ukrainian forces took control of the entire city.

Russian military bloggers have previously claimed that the city is still in Moscow’s hands.

The BBC’s investigative team confirmed where another video was posted online on Friday morning, showing a Russian convoy of 15 damaged, burnt out and abandoned on a road through the town of Oktyaprskoye, around 38 kilometers from the border on the Russian side. .

The footage also shows Russian soldiers – some wounded and others possibly killed – among the vehicles.

Moscow has since sent reinforcements – including tanks and missile launch systems – to the Kursk region, saying Russian forces “continue to repulse the attempted invasion of the – Ukraine.”

Russia’s claim has not been independently verified.

The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency urged Russia and Ukraine on Friday to “use maximum deterrence” as fighting neared the Kursk nuclear power plant – one of the world’s largest nuclear facilities Russia.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said that measures must be taken “to avoid a nuclear accident with potentially very serious radical consequences.” “

The Kursk nuclear power plant is located about 60 kilometers northeast of Sudza.