By Deutsche Welle
07 Aug 2024, 15:57 PM EDT
The head of the Russian border region of Kursk announced a state of emergency on Wednesday (7.08.2024) following the Ukrainian cross-border incursion that began about 36 hours ago. This is the most serious attack by Ukrainian forces on Russian territory in months.
“In the Kursk region, the complex situation in the border areas continues”In order to mitigate the consequences of the incursion of enemy forces into the territory of the region, I have made the decision to declare a state of emergency in the region from August 7,” regional governor Alexei Smirnov announced via Telegram in a message reported by several agencies.
During the course of Wednesday, The anti-aircraft alert in this region was activated on repeated occasionsand remained active for more than 12 hours, with the last one issued at 20:16 Moscow time (17:16 GMT) and it has not yet been lifted.
While, Ukrainian troops remained on Russian soil on Wednesdayin an incursion that began the day before and led to the evacuation of thousands of people from both sides of the border, with more than 600 placed in shelters.
Five civilians have been killed and 31 others injured in the attacks, according to the Russian Ministry of Health. Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed these figures.
Ukrainian attack started at dawn
According to Moscow, Ukrainian forces entered the Kursk region on Tuesday “Up to 1,000 soldiers,” said Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov on Wednesday, adding a dozen tanks and around 20 armoured vehicles. The Ukrainian authorities have so far refrained from making any official announcement about the operation.
After two days of fighting, It is not clear either the extent of the damage or the depth of the Ukrainian advance into Russian territory.although several reports from Ukrainian and Russian military bloggers suggest that fighters have advanced several kilometers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has denounced a “large-scale provocation” and said that “the Kiev regime” is “indiscriminately firing various types of weapons, including rockets, at civilian buildings, homes and ambulances.”
The Russian army chief of staff told Putin in a televised meeting that “the enemy’s deep advance into the territory was stopped by aviation and artillery.”
Fighting continues “in areas immediately adjacent to the border””Gerasimov added. “The operation will end with the defeat of the enemy,” he proclaimed.
Since the Russian military operation in Ukraine began in February 2022, there have been several incursions by pro-Ukrainian fighters into Russian soil, many of which have been stopped by the Russian military. Some of these have forced Moscow to resort to artillery and aviation, as in the case of Tuesday’s incursion.
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