For days, Ukraine has been waging a bitter counter-offensive in Russia. Now President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has commented on it for the first time.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted for the first time that Ukraine has advanced into the Russian region of Kursk. Kiev is trying to “shift” the war to Russian territory, Zelensky said in his daily address on Saturday. Ukraine is thereby proving “that it is really capable of ensuring justice and guarantees to build up exactly the pressure that is needed – pressure on the aggressor.”
In light of the advance, Russian authorities have brought tens of thousands of people to safety. “More than 76,000 people have been temporarily accommodated in safe places,” the state news agency Tass quoted a representative of the region’s emergency management ministry as saying on Saturday.
Additional trains were put in place to take the refugees to the capital Moscow, and aid supplies were also brought to the border area. “The war has come to us,” a woman who wished to remain anonymous told the AFP news agency upon her arrival at the train station in Moscow.
Vague information about the fighting
Neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian side provided any information about the actual fighting. The Russian General Staff initially stated that more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers, a dozen tanks and about 20 other armored vehicles had entered the Kursk region. On Saturday, the Russian military announced that it had destroyed five times as much Ukrainian military equipment.
The Russian army announced that it had been fighting against the Ukrainian invasion of Russian territory for the fifth day in a row.
Ukrainian intelligence only reported that Russia had begun moving a marine brigade from the occupied Crimean peninsula to the Kursk region. Part of the convoy of vehicles had already been destroyed on the way there. The information could not be independently verified.
Russian authorities warn residents of Kursk
In response to the Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kursk and other border regions, Russia announced anti-terrorist operations in Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk. The associated measures include restrictions on road traffic and the use of means of communication.
A missile alert was sounded throughout the Kursk region. Acting Governor Alexei Smirnov warned of the potential dangers on the Telegram platform and called on the population to seek shelter if possible.
Note: This post has been updated.
Source: Stern
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