Clashes are continuing in the Kursk region of Russia for the third day in a row after the Ukrainian army crossed the border.
The Russian army, together with the Federal Security Service (FSB), is actively fighting in the Sudzhansky and Korenevsky regions.
According to the Interfax agency, the Russian Defence Ministry reported that successful attacks had been carried out against Ukrainian forces in the region, while artillery and drone attacks from Ukrainian territory continued throughout the day.
While the situation in the town of Sudzha near the border remains serious, the Russian Defence Ministry did not provide specific details.
Railway stations near the border, including in Sudzha, were temporarily closed.
The Russian General Staff reported that the Ukrainian advance had been halted on the first day of the offensive, with enemy forces advancing 10 kilometres into Russian territory.
Authorities in Kursk Oblast declared a state of emergency as fighting escalated. One person was killed and 17 others evacuated when a historic monastery near Sudzha came under air attack.
A total of 66 people, including a VGTRK reporter, have been wounded in the area since the fighting began.
Evacuations are ongoing, and some 3,000 people have been evacuated from areas close to the conflict zone. The Russian government has offered financial compensation to those displaced by the fighting, and President Vladimir Putin has pledged that the necessary funds will be made available.
Internationally, Ukrainian officials said their offensive was aimed at strengthening their position in possible negotiations.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) and the United States reiterated their support for Ukraine and dismissed concerns that the attacks would change their position.
Yesterday, Mikhail Podolyak, an aide to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, described the purpose of the attack as strengthening Kiev’s negotiating position, Strana.ua reported.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mariya Zakharova said earlier in the day that Kiev had decided to ‘act’ after the failure of the Ukrainian army. Zaharova urged the international community not to stand aside and to strongly condemn Ukraine’s actions. Zaharova stressed that “the West is in a cynical silence”,
European Union (EU) Commission spokesman for foreign affairs and security policy Peter Stano said that Brussels would continue to support Ukraine and that the attacks would not affect that support.
In addition, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Washington was not limiting the use of weapons in Ukraine’s Kursk region. Earlier, the State Department said that Kiev had not informed Washington in advance of its intention to launch an offensive in the Kursk region, which the United States did not find “surprising”.
Dmitriy Ofitserov-Belskiy, associate professor at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Vedomosti that the attack would not change anything:
“Given that this raid was intended to convince Kiev’s Western allies that the Ukrainian army is not exhausted by the difficulties in Donbass and is worthy of receiving large quantities and types of weapons, and to force the West to abandon its insistence on respecting the red lines on the use of these weapons, it is worth noting that the final result has not changed so far.”
