Ukraine sets up military command in Russia for the first time

After its advance in the Russian region of Kursk, Ukraine is now increasing the pressure on Moscow by setting up a military command. The command, led by Ukrainian Major General Eduard Moskalev, should take care of maintaining law and order and the priority needs of the population, said Commander-in-Chief Olexander Syrskyj during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj. Ukraine had stressed that it would adhere to international humanitarian law in its ground offensive, which has been ongoing since August 6.

After Russia lost control of part of the Kursk region and left people behind there, supplies must be maintained, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in Kiev also announced. The defenders of Ukraine are taking care of the safety of the people left behind by Russia, the ministry in Kiev announced.

According to Kyiv, 82 places are under Ukrainian control

The commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Syrskyj, further said that the Ukrainian military had brought 82 towns and 1,150 square kilometers of territory under its control since the start of the offensive. According to him, the Kiev troops again advanced between 500 meters and 1.5 kilometers, less than in the days before. The information could not be independently verified. It is the first advance of this kind since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022.

According to unverifiable Russian information, around 12,000 Ukrainian soldiers are said to have invaded the Kursk region. According to Ukrainian information, they are said to have advanced 35 kilometers into Russian territory. The Kremlin-critical independent Russian news portal “Meduza”, like other experts before it, considered the Ukrainian information to be exaggerated. According to it, Kiev controls 45 to 50 towns in an area of ​​between 500 and 700 square kilometers. The situation in the contested area is considered to be very dynamic with constantly changing balances of power.

Moscow announces more troops for border area

Russia’s Defense Minister Andrei Belousov called representatives of the General Staff and other officials to an emergency meeting in Moscow. He announced more troops and resources for the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions bordering Ukraine. The General Staff has prepared a plan with additional measures, Belousov said. “The main aim is to improve the efficiency of the troop management system in cooperation with other security agencies,” Belousov said at the meeting on protecting the Russian border region.

He said he would monitor the implementation of the plan himself. It was about protecting Russia’s territorial integrity, the population and the infrastructure in the border regions.

According to the report, the Ministry of Defense, the domestic intelligence service FSB, the National Guard and other security agencies are now to coordinate their work better. The Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, again reported the destruction of Ukrainian positions on Russian territory. The information could not be independently verified.

The invasion of enemy troops with tanks and heavy artillery caused widespread astonishment among the Russian population about the state of the state border. The domestic secret service FSB, which is responsible for border security, reports almost daily arrests of alleged and real saboteurs who are said to be working for Ukraine, as well as of war opponents. However, the border guards failed to notice that an entire contingent of Kiev troops had formed up for the attack in the Ukrainian region of Sumy before crossing into Russian territory.

The Ministry of Defense in Moscow has now announced that the Russian army in the Kursk region has regained control of the village of Krupez and successfully repelled Ukrainian attacks in certain areas. Russian military bloggers, who had previously repeatedly criticized the ministry for false statements, also confirmed this. An attempt by Ukrainian soldiers to take over Russian territory in the Belgorod region was repelled, it was said.

Russia evacuates another district in Kursk region

Meanwhile, in the Kursk region, the authorities ordered the evacuation of another district. The people in the Glushkovsky district are to be brought to safety, said Governor Alexei Smirnov. Before the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, more than 17,500 residents were registered in the district, which is about ten kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Smirnov also reported another air raid warning in the Kursk region this morning due to the threat of rocket attacks from the Ukrainian side.

Smirnov also met with the deputy head of the presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, at the Kursk nuclear power plant. The close confidant of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin got an overview of the situation for himself after security measures had been increased there. After a visit to the construction site for the Kursk-2 nuclear power plant, Smirnov said that work on the new reactor was going according to plan. It is due to be completed in December. Recently there had been fears of fighting over the nuclear power plant and a possible nuclear danger.

According to Smirnov, more than 120,000 people have now been brought to safety. Russia has declared its border regions of Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk zones for anti-terrorist operations, meaning the military apparatus is deploying more personnel and resources. In the Belgorod region, Moscow has upgraded the state of emergency to an emergency of national importance, as it did previously in the Kursk area.

According to Zelensky, Ukraine wants to use the offensive to increase pressure on its war opponent Russia to end the fighting and begin peace negotiations. In contrast, Russian troops reported the capture of further towns in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk.