Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has officially acknowledged that Ukrainian military forces are conducting an offensive in Russia’s western Kursk region, marking a significant shift in the ongoing conflict between the two nations.
The unprecedented assault, which began on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, has resulted in the evacuation of over 76,000 civilians from the affected areas and prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to label it “a major provocation.”
According to Russian reports, up to 1,000 Ukrainian troops entered the Kursk region at the onset of the operation.
As of Sunday, August 11, battles continue to rage, with Moscow resorting to bombing its own territory in an attempt to contain what has become Ukraine’s largest incursion into Russian territory since the start of the war in February 2022.
During a video address on Saturday, Zelenskyy stated that his military was pushing into “the aggressor’s territory,” adding, “Ukraine is proving that it is really able to bring justice and guarantees exactly the kind of pressure that is needed — pressure on the aggressor.”
The assault has disrupted the established norms of Moscow’s 30-month invasion of Ukraine, where Kyiv has primarily struggled to defend its own territory.
In response to the incursion, Russian federal authorities have declared a state of national emergency and imposed a sweeping security regime in three border regions.
These measures grant security services powers to restrict the movement of people and vehicles, as well as implement phone-tapping and other surveillance methods.
Evidence of Ukraine’s advance has emerged on social media, with videos showing Ukrainian soldiers raising their flag in the village of Guevo, located about two miles from the Ukrainian border, and removing Russian flags from government buildings in Sverdlikovo.
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has also increased its military presence along its border with Ukraine and claimed that Ukrainian drones had violated its airspace.
While Ukraine makes advances into Russian territory, the conflict continues to rage within Ukraine’s borders.
On Sunday, a Russian air attack on Kyiv resulted in the deaths of a 4-year-old boy and his 35-year-old father when debris from a downed Russian weapon fell on their house.
President Zelenskyy claimed that, according to preliminary information, the Russians had used North Korean missiles in the attack, an allegation that, if confirmed, would implicate North Korea in violating U.N. Security Council resolutions.
nbcnews.com
