By Deutsche Welle
07 Aug 2024, 10:38 AM EDT
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (7.08.2024) accused Ukraine of “large-scale provocation” by carrying out a border raid in the Kursk region, where fighting between troops from both sides continues.
“As is known, The kyiv regime has carried out a new large-scale provocation”It is carrying out indiscriminate bombings with various types of weapons, including missiles, against civilian buildings, residential buildings and ambulances,” Putin said at the start of a meeting with the government broadcast on television.
Putin said that once the meeting with the executive branch is over, he will chair a meeting with the heads of the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff and the Federal Security Service (FSB), which is responsible for border protection.
Besides, He called on the government to “immediately” assist the citizens of Kursk that have been affected by the enemy incursion.
Putin discussed the issue this morning with Kursk Governor Alexei Mironov, who estimated that several thousand civilians had been evacuated since Tuesday.
“The situation in the region is controllable,” Smirnov said.
Fighting for the second day in a row
The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged today that fighting to expel Ukrainian troops who entered Kursk on Tuesday is continuing for the second consecutive day.
“During the night, detachments of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation together with border guard units of the Federal Security Service (FSB) continued to crush the troops of the Ukrainian army in areas of the Kursk region bordering the Russian-Ukrainian border,” the military statement said.
Moscow stresses that thanks to the coordination between its troops, aviation and heavy artillery, “the enemy was not allowed to penetrate deep into the territory of the Russian Federation.”
According to the well-known Russian military blogger Rybar, Ukrainian troops have fortified themselves in three towns in Kursk, where about 400 men have entered. In addition, another 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers are said to be stationed on the border.
According to the Ukrainian military channel DeepState, the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which have not officially confirmed the operation, They took a group of Russian soldiers prisoner. Various reports about the war in Ukraine cannot be independently confirmed.
The last attempt by Ukrainian forces to invade the Kursk region took place in March, when, according to the FSB, more than 100 enemy soldiers were killed and six tanks destroyed.
In the past, these raids were always claimed by armed groups made up of Russian volunteers loyal to the kyiv authorities, which was not the case on this occasion.
Keep reading:
- Joe Biden vows not to let Ukraine fall “under the yoke of Russia”
- Kamala Harris replaces Biden and will represent the US at the peace summit for Ukraine
- Biden allows Ukraine to use US weapons to attack Russian territory for the first time