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Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has praised his army’s ability “to surprise” and “achieve results” as it battles Russian forces during an audacious cross-border attack into Russian territory.
Around 1,000 Ukrainian troops in tanks and armoured vehicles successfully broke through the Russian border and into the Kursk region in the early hours of Tuesday with air support from swarms of drones and pounding artillery, according to Russian officials.
Russia has since declared a state of emergency in the region and local officials said on Thursday that thousands of people had been evacuated following the attack that an angry Vladimir Putin has labelled a “major provocation”.
While Ukrainian officials haven’t spoken directly about the attack, including Mr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to the president said that “the root cause of any escalation”, including into Kursk, was “unequivocal aggression” on the part of Russia in believing it could invade Ukraine without consequences.
He also suggested on the country’s national television news broadcast that the military actions could strengthen Ukraine’s position during any future negotiations with Russia to end the war.
Mr Zelensky said at an event to unveil a new digital app to cut paperwork for the military: “Everyone can see that the Ukrainian army knows how to surprise. And knows how to achieve results.
“This is demonstrated by the battlefield, where our soldiers not only withstood the overwhelming force of the occupiers, but also are destroying it in the way necessary to protect Ukraine – our state and independence.”
Ukrainian soldiers have now penetrated more than six miles (10km) across the border, breaking through two Russian defensive lines and a stronghold, the Institute for the Study of War said. Some reports suggest that Kyiv’s forces are advancing towards a village 13 miles into Russian territory.
Heavy fighting has been reported near the town of Sudzha and some Russian bloggers, currently one of the most accurate sources of information, said Ukraine’s forces were pushing towards the Kursk nuclear power station, under 40 miles northeast of Sudzha.
Yuri Podolyaka, a popular Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, said that there were intense battles about 30km from the Soviet-era nuclear plant, which supplies a large swathe of southern Russia with power.
Ukraine’s energy minister said gas transit via Sudzha was still functioning, despite reports of hostilities there. Most EU nations have reduced their dependence on Russian gas, but Austria is one country that still receives most of its gas via Ukraine.
The Center for Information Resilience, a non-profit open-source analysis organisation, said it was unable to visually confirm any damage to the gas metering station as a result of the incursion, but had verified significant damage to the border checkpoint about 500 metres to the south.
“This, combined with footage verified by CIR of several Russian soldiers surrendering to Ukrainian soldiers near the entrance of the gas metering plant, makes it likely that the plant has been affected by the Ukrainian incursion, however, the level of damage cannot be verified at this time,” it said.
Kursk’s regional acting governor, Alexei Smirnov, said that thousands of residents had been evacuated. The White House said the United States – Ukraine’s biggest backer – had no prior knowledge of the attack and would seek more details from Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian shelling reportedly killed at least two individuals – a paramedic and an ambulance driver – and injured 24 others, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said. Neither of these Russian claims could be independently verified.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed on Thursday that the army and the Federal Security Service had halted the Ukrainian advance, but it has made such claims every day since the attack began, despite heavy fighting continuing.
The battles come at a crucial juncture in the conflict, the biggest land war in Europe since the Second World War. Kyiv is concerned that US support could weaken if Republican Donald Trump wins the November presidential election.
Trump has said he would seek to end the war, and both Russia and Ukraine are keen to gain the strongest possible bargaining position on the battlefield.
Agencies contributed to this report
