Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with organizers of the “Russia” forum and exhibition, which celebrates the country’s major achievements, in Moscow, Russia July 8, 2024.
Artyom Geodakyan | Via Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine on Wednesday of carrying out “another large-scale provocation” on Russia’s border.
“As you know, the Kiev regime has carried out other large-scale provocations, sending indiscriminate fire from various types of weapons, including missiles, on civilian buildings, residential houses, ambulances,” he said in a comment released by the Kremlin on Telegram. social media platforms.
The comments came after Russia’s defense ministry on Tuesday claimed that 300 Ukrainian “militants” had launched a cross-border attack into Russia’s Kursk region, using tanks and armored vehicles.
Russia’s defense ministry said on Wednesday that its forces and Russian border authorities “have destroyed an armed formation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine last night in the Kursk region immediately adjacent to the Russia-Ukraine border.”
“Air and missile strikes, artillery fire as well as units of the State Border Guard Forces prevented the enemy from advancing into the territory of the Russian Federation,” the ministry said.
In a Google-translated update on Telegram, Kursk’s Acting Governor Alexey Smirnov said Tuesday that two people have died and 13 others were injured, in what he described as “massive shelling” of the region by Ukraine, mainly focused on the city of Sudzha.
CNBC could not verify the claim and Ukraine has not commented publicly on the attack. CNBC has reached out to Ukraine’s defense ministry for comment.
President Putin said Thursday that he will meet with the chief of the security and defense and law enforcement agencies to discuss the situation in Kursk, and will also meet with members of the defense ministry and the FSB security agency.
