(Kyiv) Ukraine claimed on Thursday new advances in its offensive in the Russian region of Kursk, where Russia claims for its part to have retaken a village while maintaining its pressure further south on the Donbass front.
Ukrainian forces attacked the Kursk border region on August 6, seizing dozens of towns and hundreds of square kilometers of Russian territory in an offensive that surprised the Russian military as it slowly advanced into Donbass.
Ukrainian Army Commander Oleksandr Syrsky claimed on Thursday an advance of 35 kilometers in depth for a total control of 1,150 km2 and 82 localities, eight more than on Tuesday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian troops had completely “liberated” Sudja, a Russian town of 5,500 inhabitants located about ten kilometers from the border.
PHOTO EVGENIY MALOLETKA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ukrainian servicemen ride on a tank after returning from Russia.
In a sign of the Ukrainians’ intention to establish themselves in the long term, General Syrsky announced the creation of a military administration in the region, responsible for day-to-day affairs, logistics and ensuring security.
Caught off guard by highly mobile Ukrainian motorized formations which easily crossed the border, the Russian army has since assured that it had sent reinforcements and claimed on Thursday to have retaken a village, that of Kroupets.
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov announced Thursday the allocation of “additional resources” to the Belgorod region, which borders Kursk. The situation there is “extremely tense,” according to its governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov.
“Difficult” situation in the East
The operation in the Kursk region is Ukraine’s first major advance since its successful counteroffensives in late 2022. Zelensky said hundreds of Russian troops had been taken prisoner since August 6.
PHOTO ROMAN PILIPEY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
In Sumy, AFP journalists attended the funeral of six Ukrainian soldiers killed during the Kursk offensive on Thursday.
It has given a second wind to the Ukrainian army, which, since the failure of another counter-offensive in the summer of 2023, has been retreating in the Donetsk region (Donbass, east) in the face of more numerous and better armed Russian units.
British media reported on Thursday that Ukrainians were using Challenger 2 heavy tanks supplied by the UK during its offensive in Russia.
Without confirming this information, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhailo Podoliak, argued on Thursday that the recent “changes on the front line” showed that Kyiv was “effectively” using “military and financial aid” received from abroad.
PHOTO RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY, PROVIDED BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Russian drone attack on Ukrainian vehicle.
Ukrainian authorities have given various reasons for the attack on Russia: to force Moscow to withdraw troops from other parts of the front, to create a “buffer zone” in Russian territory against bombing, or to use it as a bargaining chip in future negotiations.
However, the pressure does not seem to be easing in eastern Ukraine, where most of the fighting is still taking place. Russia claimed on Thursday the capture of the village of Ivanivka, about fifteen kilometers from Pokrovsk, an important logistics hub.
According to the commander of the Ukrainian army, the situation on the eastern and southern fronts remains “difficult but under control.”
On Telegram, the Pokrovsk administration nevertheless called on the population to evacuate on Thursday, stressing that the enemy was advancing “at a rapid pace.”
Russian strikes also continue. Ukrainian local authorities reported during the day the death of three civilians in the Donetsk region, two in the Kharkiv region (northeast) and two in the Kherson region (south).
In the Ukrainian region of Sumy, located opposite Kursk and where more than 20,000 people have already been evacuated, the local administration reported 56 Russian strikes during the day on Thursday evening.
According to her, one civilian was killed and three others injured by bombs dropped in the area of the town of Krasnopillia, located about ten kilometers from the Russian border.
Humanitarian corridors
In Kursk, the capital of the region of the same name, AFP journalists saw around 500 displaced people on Thursday during a distribution of food and clothing by the Red Cross.
“I was very, very scared. Shells were flying from all sides, helicopters and fighter jets were flying over the house,” Nina Goliniaeva, an evacuee from Sudja, told AFP.
“In the evening I saw soldiers in the street,” added the woman, who said she left while “there was thunder all around.”
More than 120,000 people have fled the fighting and shelling and almost 2,000 more may be in areas occupied by the Ukrainian army, according to official Russian data.
At least 12 civilians have been killed and more than 120 injured, including children, since the start of the Ukrainian operation, according to a report from Russian authorities provided at the beginning of the week.
Finally, Ukraine said on Wednesday that its army plans to open humanitarian corridors in the Kursk region to facilitate the evacuation of civilians both to Russia and Ukraine.