Ukrainian forces launched a counterattack in the western border region of Kurskwarning that Russia was “getting what it deserves.”
Although it is not immediately clear how far Ukraine has progressed in the region, the assault comes at a critical time in the near term. three year conflict with both sides seeking to increase their leverage in negotiations ahead of the election of the US president Donald Trump returns to the White House on January 20.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday he would again call on his allies to strengthen his country’s air defense at a meeting of the Ramstein Group in Germany this week.
He said dozens of partner countries would attend the meeting “including those who can help strengthen our capabilities not only to defend against missiles but also against guided bombs and Russian aircraft.”
“We will discuss this with them and continue to persuade them,” Zelenskyy said in his nighttime speech on Saturday. “The task remains unchanged: to strengthen our air defense.”
Oksana Johannesson / AP
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin will attend the meeting, which was originally scheduled to take place in October and be attended by President Biden. It was postponed because Hurricane Milton hit the United States.
In its final weeks in office, the Biden administration has pushed to send as much military aid to Ukraine as possible.
Ukraine used two tanks, a dozen armored vehicles and a demolition unit in Sunday’s assault, which was aimed at the village of Berdin, about 15 kilometers northeast of Sudzha, the ministry said Russian Defense.
“The operation to destroy the formations of the Ukrainian army continues,” the statement said.
Pro-Kremlin military bloggers admitted that the Russian military had come under pressure, but said Moscow was fighting back.
“The main events of the next offensive attempt by the Ukrainian army are clearly still ahead of us,” Rybar told the influential pro-Russian Telegram channel.
Ukrainian officials have given few details about the new offensive, with one prominent lawmaker calling for silence.
“I don’t understand why there is a need to officially report on the Kursk region. Maybe it’s better to do it afterwards, once the operation is finished? » said Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko.
Other officials expressed joy at the response, which comes nearly three years after Moscow launched its full-scale military attack on Ukraine.
“Russia gets what it deserves,” Ukrainian President Andriy Yermak’s chief of staff said.
The head of Ukraine’s Center for Combating Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, said on Telegram that defense forces were “working” in the region, without elaborating.
“In the Kursk region, the Russians are very worried because they were attacked from several directions, which was a surprise for them,” he said.
Roman chop/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
kyiv seized dozens of villages in the Kursk region shortly after its incursion began on August 6, 2024, but its advance stopped after Moscow sent reinforcements to the region, including thousands of troops from its North Korean ally.
A Ukrainian military source told AFP last November that kyiv still controlled about 300 square miles of the Russian border region.
But kyiv has so far failed to curb Moscow’s advance in Ukraine, which will be seven times greater in 2024 than the previous year, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the study of war.
Russia and Ukraine have regularly exchanged attacks since the start of the year.
Russia said Sunday it shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones overnight in a barrage that damaged homes and triggered air alerts, while kyiv said Moscow fired 103 drones into its territory.
Four Russian airports briefly suspended traffic early Sunday for “security” reasons, forcing at least eight planes to deviate from their path, a spokesperson for Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said.