The Ukrainian army continued its incursion into the Russian region of Kursk on Friday and launched “massive” drone attacks overnight on several other regions of Russia, including Lipetsk, nearly 300 km from the border, where a fire broke out on a military base.
Lipetsk regional governor Igor Artamonov has declared a state of emergency after a “massive attack” by Ukrainian drones that he said left at least six people injured and damaged a power plant.
The Tass and Ria Novosti agencies, citing regional authorities, reported that a fire broke out at a military airbase in the Lipetsk region, without specifying the cause.
Russian air defenses also shot down 29 Ukrainian drones in the border region of Belgorod, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram, according to whom the attack caused material damage but no injuries.
In Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev reported attacks by aerial and naval drones.
The night attacks were launched at a time when Ukraine has been carrying out a surprise offensive in the Kursk border region since Tuesday.
More than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers with around ten tanks and twenty armoured vehicles entered the region on Tuesday, according to the Russian general staff, which said it was doing everything to repel them.
This contingent, however, appears to have gained ground by catching Russian forces off guard, although kyiv has kept almost total silence on the operation.
“Feeling” the effects of war
“Russia brought war to our country and should feel” its effects, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his speech on Thursday evening, without directly mentioning the incursion.
His adviser Mykhailo Podoliak also claimed that this surprise offensive was a consequence of Russian “aggression” in Ukraine, without however clearly attributing it to kyiv’s forces.
“A large part of the international community now considers Russia a legitimate target for operations of any type and with any weapons,” he added, while many Western countries have banned Ukraine from using the weapons they supply to strike Russian territory.
The day before, on Ukrainian television, Mr. Podoliak had judged that, in order to obtain something from Moscow at “the negotiating table”, the conflict should not follow “the scenario” established by the Russians.
The United States, kyiv’s main supporter, repeated on Thursday that it “firmly supports Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself against Russian aggression,” without commenting on the details of the situation. The day before, Washington had indicated that it had questioned the Ukrainian authorities to understand the “objectives” of this incursion of unprecedented scale.
“The operation to destroy the Ukrainian army formations continues,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday, assuring that it was preventing them from “penetrating deeply” into the region.
Alarming picture
He published videos filmed by drones and showing, according to him, the destruction of Ukrainian soldiers and vehicles in the Kursk region.
While official Russian communication is intended to be reassuring – the regional authorities still spoke on Thursday of a “stable and under control” situation – the picture painted by military experts is more alarming for Russia.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based research center, Ukrainian troops have penetrated up to 35 km inside Russian territory.
According to several analysts, Ukrainian soldiers reached Sudja, a Russian town of about 5,500 inhabitants located about ten kilometers from the border and which houses a gas hub still supplying Europe via Ukraine.
Residents evacuated from the city reported a difficult situation there, according to images released by the Russian LDPR party, which is helping to welcome the displaced.
“The situation is bad… There is no communication” with those who remained behind, said Alexei, an ambulance driver from Soudja who is waiting to receive humanitarian aid.
Another man, also named Alexei, a volunteer, explained that the evacuees “feel abandoned.”
Telegram channels of Ukrainian military observers have been circulating unverified drone footage showing what are said to be Russian soldiers surrendering.
On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin appeared visibly angry on Russian television, denouncing a “large-scale provocation” by Ukraine and accusing it of indiscriminately striking civilian buildings.
Although the extent of the Ukrainian military’s advance is unclear, gas giant Gazprom assured on Thursday that it would continue to deliver its gas via Sudja daily as usual.
This gas then transits through Ukraine, notably to Slovakia and Hungary.
Authorities have declared a state of emergency in the Kursk region and said at least five civilians had been killed and 66 injured, including nine children. About 3,000 people have already been evacuated.