Ukrainian forces penetrate into Russian territory, conquering several villages
Russia's defense ministry said that 'airstrikes, missiles, artillery fire, and active operations in the field prevent the enemy from advancing deep into Russian Federation territory'
As part of the operation that began Tuesday, Ukrainian forces broke through their north-western border, capturing the town of Sudzha in the Kursk region along the Ukrainian border.
The Russian defense ministry confirmed the infiltration, reporting that "air strikes, missiles, artillery fire and active actions in the field prevent the enemy from advancing deep into the Russian Federation territory." According to Russian sources, Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov said that the Ukrainian attack in the Kursk area had been halted.
According to reports, Ukrainian forces took over a number of villages in the province. Pro-Russian telegram channels reported that the Ukrainian forces are in control of the Sudzha gas measurement station - a central border facility for transporting Russian gas to Europe.
Both sides reported heavy losses of equipment, with prisoners taken from the Russian army by invading troops. In addition, the Russian air forces lost at least one Kamov Ka-52 helicopter. According to unconfirmed reports, others were shot down. Ukrainian soldiers said that 35 Russian soldiers were taken prisoner.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin convened a meeting of the Russian National Security Council amid events in the Kursk region and said, "The Kiev regime has carried out another major provocation and is shooting indiscriminately."
The Ukrainian strategy is still unclear, and we can cautiously assume that it may be an attempt to seize the Russian territories to leverage pressure on the Russian army, which has managed to advance and take over more territories in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine in recent weeks. This may be an attempt to divert the Russian forces and cause them to move some of their forces to the Kursk region.