Ukrainian army reportedly advancing kilometers into Russian territory
According to Russian reports, "up to a thousand" Ukrainian soldiers, along with dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, are involved in the attack. So far, at least five civilians have been killed and another 31 injured in the advance.
The ISW further wrote that the "current extent and location of the Ukrainian advances in the Kursk region (...) indicate that the Ukrainian forces have breached at least two Russian defensive lines and a position". The Ukraine is reportedly targeting a significant Russian army supply hub near the town of Sudscha, eight kilometers from the border.
The Russian Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, stated that the "operation to destroy units of the Ukrainian army" was ongoing. The Russian army is preventing Ukrainian attempts to penetrate deep into the Kursk region and inflicting "heavy losses" on the Ukrainian forces.
On Tuesday, at the start of the Ukrainian advance, the Russian army claimed to have forced the infiltrating soldiers to "retreat" back into Ukraine. This statement was later removed from a military statement. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared on Russian television, visibly angry, and spoke of a "large-scale provocation" by Ukraine.
The governor of Kursk had already declared a state of emergency. Thousands of people have been evacuated on both sides of the border in recent days. The Russian region of Kursk borders directly on the region of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine and has been regularly shelled from Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022. The Russian region of Belgorod, which also borders Kursk, was reportedly shelled again, with one man killed and another injured.
Ukrainian soldiers have repeatedly infiltrated into Russia since the beginning of the Russian invasion. The Russian army has always claimed to have repelled them. In some cases, as in the recent clashes, the air force and artillery were used. However, the current advance appears to be the first in which regular Ukrainian forces are participating.
The Ukrainian government remained remarkably discreet about the situation in Kursk. No government representative was willing to comment on the situation, even off the record.
The Ukrainian presidential advisor Podoliak described the advance as a consequence of the almost two and a half year-long Russian war of aggression against his country. "The main cause of every escalation, every bombardment, every military action (...) including the (Russian) regions of Kursk and Belgorod" is "solely and exclusively the clear aggression of Russia," Podoliak explained on the online service X.
CDU politician Roderich Kiesewetter described the Ukrainian advance in Kursk as "militarily strategic". This allows "pressure to be taken off other fronts because Russia has to tie up or redeploy forces there," Kiesewetter told the "Tagesspiegel" (Friday edition). The Ukrainian advance is "clearly permissible under international law in the sense of the right of self-defense."
The chairman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, Marcus Faber (FDP), also expressed this view. Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, "the territory of both states is a war zone," said Faber. According to him, Germany can supply weapons to Ukraine for this advance, including the Leopard 2 battle tank, as reported by the Funke media group.
The Ukrainian forces are currently targeting a significant Russian army supply hub located near the town of Sudcha, situated eight kilometers from the South Ukrainian border. Despite Russian claims of forcing infiltrating soldiers to retreat, this advance seems to be the first in which regular Ukrainian forces are actively participating from the South.
