He Russian Army has mobilized all its heavy artillery and its aviation to expel the Ukrainian troops that entered its territory three days ago, showing its defensive weakness on the border in the face of an operation that has received the support of West.
“Attempts by some (Ukrainian) units to penetrate deep into (Russian) territory in the Kursk sector have been repelled.”the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged in a statement today.
Chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimovpromised “the crushing defeat of the enemy,” but this is still a long way off, sparking alarm on social media and among the opposition, which blames the president, Vladimir Putinfor his “bloody adventure” in Ukraine.
Ukraine has not officially claimed responsibility for the largest incursion since the war began in February 2022, but kyiv hinted Thursday that there was no better way to force the Kremlin to negotiate peace than by hitting it where it hurts.
Beyond the Russian border
Both the Ministry of Defense and regional authorities admitted that fighting continues for the third consecutive day in the districts of Sudzha y Rootwhich are located several kilometers from the border.
The Kursk government told Channel One on Thursday that “the enemy has not advanced a single metre, on the contrary, it is retreating,” but military reports and bloggers close to the Kremlin deny this.
The latter insist that the enemy has taken control of a border post, where they took several dozen Russian soldiers prisoner – including young recruits – and is continuing to advance by road towards other towns in the area, at a depth of ten kilometres.
According to the Institute of Study of War (ISW)citing Russian sources, the Ukrainians would control 45 square kilometers, an area that would include more than a dozen towns.
The Ukrainians also seized the Sudzha gasometer, the tank that measures the flow of gas circulating through Ukrainian territory to European customers, although the Gazprom consortium reported today that it continues to pump this fuel through Ukraine.
Bloggers have also for the first time attacked the new defence minister, Andrey Belousovwho is accused of neglecting the protection of the border, when the concentration of enemy troops just a few kilometers from Russian territory was known, and he is ordered to punish incompetent officers.
Russia bombs its own territory
The Russian Army today used Su-34 fighter-bombers to attack the positions of Ukrainian units that crossed the common border in Kursk, the scene of the largest tank battle of World War II.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the Su-34s used FAB-500 aerial bombs, which Moscow routinely uses to pound Ukrainian territory, to launch “precise attacks from a safe distance” from the combat zone.
The Sever (North) group attacked the positions of six enemy mechanized brigades in Kursk, but also in the neighbouring regions of Kharkiv and Sumi, where kyiv is reported to have suffered 415 casualties, in addition to the destruction of four tanks, thirty armoured vehicles and military vehicles.
In an attempt to stem the panic – five civilians have died and another thirty have been injured – Putin interrupted his vacation to hold a video conference meeting today with the acting governor of Kursk, Alexei Smirnovwho declared a state of emergency the day before.
An attempt to negotiate peace
Ukrainian presidential adviser, Mijailo Podoliaksubtly admitted kyiv’s role in the incursion by acknowledging its “effectiveness” and assuring that Russia will only agree to negotiate peace “if it understands that the losses in this war are unimaginable and that the price of war is already unaffordable.”
«In view of the second peace summit, in order for Russia to get there, behave more or less appropriately (…) and not act arrogantly, which is typical of Russian foreign policy, it is necessary that the instruments of coercion work»he noted.
He added: “Today they have a war that is slowly deepening in the Russian Federation. Will it scare them? Yes. Do they react to anything other than fear? No,” he said.
In this regard, the European Commission He argued on Thursday that “under international law, Ukraine has the right to defend itself and that includes striking the enemy on its territory.”
“Within the framework of this legitimate right to defend itself, Ukraine is entitled to strike its enemy wherever it deems necessary on its territory, but also on the enemy’s territory,” he said. Peter Stanospokesman for the head of EU diplomacy, Joseph Borrell. EFE (I)
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