This photo, released by the operator of the telegram channel of Kursk region Governor Alexei Smirnov, shows a house destroyed after shelling by the Ukrainian side in the city of Sudzha, Kursk region bordering Ukraine, Tuesday, August 6, 2024.
Governor of the Kursk region telegram channel through AP
A state of emergency has been declared in Kursk after Russian authorities said Ukraine launched a rare offensive into the Russian border region.
Acting regional Governor Alexey Smirnov said the “operational situation” in the Kursk border region remained “complicated” on Wednesday, a day after Russia said Ukrainian units had launched an offensive into the region.
“To eliminate the consequences of enemy forces entering the area, I decided to declare a state of emergency,” Smirnov said in a Google-translated update on Telegram, adding that drone and missile attacks had continued overnight.
Russia’s defense ministry said Tuesday that 300 Ukrainian soldiers had crossed the border with tanks and armored vehicles, entering the country near the town of Sudzha, about 400 miles southwest of Moscow. Kursk is located on the border with the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused Ukraine of carrying out “another large-scale provocation” on Russia’s border, amid clashes between Ukrainian units and Russian troops sent to defend the region.
Russia’s defense ministry claimed Wednesday that its forces “destroyed armed formations” using airstrikes and missiles, along with artillery.
Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of general staff, later told Putin that Russian forces had stopped an attack by 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers – a force estimate higher than the original figure provided by the country’s defense ministry.
“The enemy’s advance to the area in the direction of Kursk was stopped by the actions of units covering the country’s border together with border guards and reinforcement units, with airstrikes, missiles and artillery fire,” Gerasimov said in televised comments reported by Reuters.
In this pool photo distributed by Russia’s state-owned Sputnik agency, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Valery Gerasimov is seen on screen as he attends a meeting with the heads of law enforcement agencies to deal with the situation in the Kursk region on August 7, 2024.
Gavriil Grigorov Afp | Getty Images
Ukrainian authorities have not publicly commented on the attack. CNBC has requested more information from Ukraine’s defense ministry.
US State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday that the US had not been warned of the Ukraine attack, but did not consider it imminent.
“We did not (know in advance about the Kursk operation). But it is not unusual for the Ukrainians not to inform us about the exact tactics before the execution. It is a war we are fighting. We provide equipment. We give advice. But about the daily tactics we carry out, every day the attack what is done…
Russian President Vladimir Putin enters the hall during a meeting with ministers at the Novo-Ogaryovo State Residence on August 7, 2024, in Moscow, Russia. This week Putin called on Iran to limit the damage to any relations with Israel.
Contributor | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Miller said the U.S. is currently “in communication with the Ukrainians about this particular operation” but that it was not appropriate to comment on “what operations are being conducted and what our goals are.”
The US State Department spokesman further said that Putin’s description of the attack was a “provocation” “a bit rich … because Russia violated the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine” as it has illegally seized Ukrainian territory since 2014, starting with the annexation of Crimea, before the invasion large scale in February 2022.
Ukraine’s strategy, Russia’s response
Ukraine’s strategy and reasons for carrying out the border offensive remain unclear, although some defense analysts have commented that the operation may be an attempt to force Russia to redeploy troops from eastern Ukraine, where Russia’s summer offensive has intensified.
Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War estimated Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had made a confirmed advance of up to 10 kilometers – or about 6 miles – into the Kursk region “amidst ongoing mechanized offensive operations on Russian territory.”
“The current confirmed extent and location of Ukrainian advances in Kursk Oblast (region) indicate that Ukrainian forces have penetrated at least two Russian defense lines and fortifications,” ISW said in an analysis.
A screenshot from a video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense shows Russian forces launching a missile attack, targeting military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the border region of Kursk region, Russia on August 7, 2024.
Anatolia Anatolia Getty Images
The ISW said the Kremlin’s response to Ukrainian offensive activity in Kursk “has so far been contradictory, as Russian officials try to balance the effort as an important Ukrainian escalation while avoiding potential implications and risking domestic discontent.”
“But the Kremlin risks, discrediting itself among certain communities by apparently denying the significance of the attack by framing it as just a ‘provocation.’
ISW notes that some Russian military bloggers, often critical of the war and Russian tactics and strategies, have severely criticized the Russian military command for not detecting the preparations for the offensive operation of Ukraine towards Kursk or preventing the initiative.
Deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council and famous hawk Dmitry Medvedev called on Russian forces to crush Ukrainian units in Kursk.
“We must learn a serious lesson from what happened and do what the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov promised to the supreme commander, that is, defeat and destroy the enemy,” he said in Telegram, according to Telegram. to Google translation.
