WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Kyiv: our Kursk attack shows Kremlin red lines are bluff
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday his country's assault on Russia's Kursk region showed that Kremlin threats of retaliation were a bluff, and he urged Kyiv's allies to loosen curbs on using foreign-supplied weapons.
Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces now controlled more than 1,250 square kilometres (483 square miles) and 92 settlements in Kursk region, while Russia said Ukraine had struck a third bridge in the region, complicating Russian efforts to repel the Ukrainian attack.
Ukraine launched its surprise strike on the Russian region on Aug. 6, the biggest invasion of Russia since World War Two, in an operation that Kyiv says is aimed at carving out a buffer zone and wearing down Russia's war machine.
Speaking to a gathering of Ukrainian diplomats, Zelenskiy singled out allies who have supplied long-range weapons but told Kyiv they cannot use them deep inside Russia for fear of crossing "red lines" set out by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We are witnessing a significant ideological shift – the naive, illusory concept of so-called red lines regarding Russia, which dominated the assessment of the war by some partners, has crumbled apart these days," Zelenskiy said.
He said Ukraine, because of the restrictions imposed by allies, could not use the weapons at its disposal to hit some Russian military targets. He urged allies to be bolder in their decisions about how to help Kyiv in the war.
"The world sees that everything in this war depends only on courage - our courage, the courage of our partners. On brave decisions for Ukraine, on courage in supporting Ukraine," Zelenskiy said.
Despite its thrust into Russia, Ukraine's forces are on the defensive elsewhere. They face a battle to protect the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk, where Russia has steadily advanced in recent weeks in heavy fighting more than two years since Russia's full-scale invasion.
Ukraine's military said late on Monday its forces had fought 63 skirmishes over the course of the day against Russian forces on the Pokrovsk front, and it expected that area to remain the focus of Russian attacks.
Russia said a third bridge had been struck and damaged on the Seym River that winds through the Kursk region bordering northeastern Ukraine.
Ukraine has not yet commented on the strike, but Kyiv's air force chief has said his forces have destroyed two bridges to weaken enemy logistics.
Military analysts said the bridges were part of critical supply lines for Russian troops defending the area. Reuters could not independently confirm the damage to the bridges or the battlefield situation in Kursk.
Zelenskiy said on Sunday his troops were unleashing what he described as "maximum counteroffensive actions" aimed at creating a buffer zone and hurting Moscow's military potential.
More than 121,000 people have been evacuated from nine border districts in the Kursk region, Russia's emergencies ministry said.
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Moscow was not ready to hold peace talks with Ukraine for now, given Kyiv's Kursk attack. Ukraine has demanded a full withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory before it sits down for any talks.
PUSH TOWARDS POKROVSK
Ukrainian forces face a tough battle near Pokrovsk, a transport hub for Ukrainian forces. Russian troops are now around 10 km (6 miles) from the outskirts of the city, said Serhiy Dobriak, head of the local military administration.
He said up to 600 people were leaving on a daily basis, and that municipal services could be cut off within a week as Russian forces close in.
Regional governor Vadym Filashkin said a curfew in settlements close to Pokrovsk had been tightened and the situation was "very difficult".
Ukraine's top general said Kyiv was also "doing everything necessary" to defend the eastern city of Toretsk as Moscow tries to threaten Ukrainian supply lines. Russia said its forces had captured the nearby town of Zalizne.
The war, which has killed tens of thousands and devastated cities across Ukraine, shows no sign of letting up. Kyiv expects Moscow to boost its forces in Ukraine by year's end to 800,000, up from around 600,000 now, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Ivan Havryliuk told Ukrainian media.
Ukraine has been backed by arms from its allies but is worried that support may drop as the war grinds on.
German defence stocks fell on Monday after a newspaper said the finance ministry would not approve additional applications for Ukraine military aid because of budget constraints.
A German finance ministry spokesperson later said Berlin was working intensively with its Group of Seven partners on a plan to make loans available for military support for Ukraine, funded by the proceeds of frozen Russian assets.
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Kiev’s plans and Ukrainian losses: latest update on situation in Kursk Region
Ukraine’s daily losses in the Kursk Region amounted to more than 330 troops and 27 armored vehicles, the Russian defense ministry said.
Its overall losses over the period of combat operation stand at up to 3,800 troops.
Ukrainian troops are regrouping in the Kursk Region in an attempt to stage an attack at another location but Russian forces are in control of the situation, Major General Apty Alaudinov, deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ Main Military-Political Department and commander of the Akhmat special forces commando unit, said.
Here are key facts about the current situation.
Situation in the region
- Russian forces repelled Ukrainian attacks on Olgovka, Russkoye Cherkasskye, and Porechnoye in the Kursk Region.
- Russian forces hit Ukrainian troops and vehicles near the settlements of Borki, Bogdanovka, Vishnevka, Viktorovka, Kositsa, Lyubimovka, Melovoy, Snagost, west of Martynovka and southeast of Korenevo.
- Russian aircraft struck areas of deployment of Ukrainian troops and combat vehicles near the settlements of Basocka, Vorozhba, Kruzhok, Miropolye, Novaya Sech, and Sadki in the Sumy Region.
- The operation to wipe out Ukrainian army units continues.
Ukraine’s losses
- During the past day, Ukraine lost more than 330 troops and 27 armored vehicles, including four tanks, a combat infantry carrier, three armored personnel carriers, 19 armored combat vehicles, eight automobiles, two artillery systems, and three mortars.
- Ukraine’s overall losses over the period of combat operation in the Kursk Region stand at up to 3,800 troops, 54 tanks, 26 combat infantry carrier, 46 armored personnel carriers, 281 armored combat vehicles, 123 automobiles, 27 artillery systems, fire air defense systems, seven multiple missile launchers, including three HIMARS and one MLRS launchers, five electronic warfare stations, four engineering vehicles, including two obstacle removal vehicles and one UR-77 mine clearing system.
Kiev’s plans
Ukraine is regrouping its troops in the Kursk Region in an attempt to stage an attack at another location but Russian forces are in control of the situation, Major General Apty Alaudinov, deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ Main Military-Political Department and commander of the Akhmat special forces commando unit, said.
- According to Alaudinov, Ukraine’s plan was to enter Kursk and begin "bargaining" a peace agreement.
- Ukraine’s army used "everything it could engage," including tanks and armored vehicles, to stage the attack, Alaudinov said.
Assistance to residents
- More than 121,000 people have been resettled from nine border areas in the Kursk Region since the beginning of the evacuation campaign, with more than 650 of them being evacuated from dangerous zones in the past 24 hours, Artyom Sharov, deputy head of the Russian emergencies ministry’s information policy department, said.
- Russian emergencies ministry’s bomb specialists have drfused around 130 explosive objects in the Kursk Region after shelling attacks by Ukrainian troops.
- Russian emergencies ministry’s convoys delivered more than 250 tons of humanitarian cargoes to the region during the past day, with overall humanitarian deliveries exceeding 2,400 tons.
Reuters/Tass