Key occasions
On the Sudzha crossing the place Ukrainian troops pushed into Russia nerves are tense
Dan Sabbagh
The journey from the Ukrainian metropolis of Sumy to the Russian border is brief. In about three-quarters of an hour it’s doable to reach at a smashed-up Ukrainian border put up and stare over two easy strains of fencing into Russian fields to the fitting. Besides the territory past is not below Kremlin management.
The Sudzha crossing is now 5 miles or so from the present frontline inside Russia’s Kursk oblast. For now a minimum of, it stays very a lot in Ukrainian fingers a full week into the border incursion; on a quick go to what may very well be heard had been the pops of outgoing artillery, not the crumps of incoming shells.
Edgy army guards, clips of rifle ammunition tucked into chest pouches, blocked additional progress into Russia, a swathe of territory that Ukraine’s international ministry mentioned on Tuesday it had no real interest in completely occupying. As a substitute, it mentioned the assault was justified “to protect the lives of our people” – a part of a artistic try at self-defence, placing the place the Russians are weakest.
The crossing fell on the primary day of Ukraine’s incursion, and movies launched by Ukrainian sources confirmed just a few dozen Russian border guards surrendering, overwhelmed by a shock, cellular assault. However although severely broken on the Ukrainian facet, a lot of the destruction was brought on earlier within the conflict: essentially the most notable proof of the incursion was outdated particles swept apart to clear the highway.
Eight days on, in an space of few roads and distant uncultivated fields, Ukrainian army automobiles, all marked with distinctive white painted or taped triangles are nonetheless on the transfer. Ukrainian sources say Kyiv has dedicated 1000’s of the troops to the raid, however what can be notable is the variety of armoured automobiles within the area, many greater than at different factors within the two-and-a-half-year-long conflict.
Ukraine has put the problem of peace talks with Russia “on a long pause” by attacking the Kursk area, the Russian international ministry’s particular envoy, Rodion Miroshnik, mentioned at present, Reuters reported citing TASS.
German prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man over the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gasoline pipelines, AFP reported citing German media.
A European arrest warrant was requested in June for the person, named solely as Volodymyr Z., whose final recognized deal with is in Poland, and who’s now believed to have taken flight.
German investigators imagine the person was one of many divers who planted explosive gadgets on the Nord Stream pipelines.
In the meantime, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod area, Vyacheslav Gladkov, has declared a state of emergency, Reuters reported.
“The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be extremely difficult and tense,” Gladkov mentioned.
“Therefore, we are making a decision, starting today, to declare a regional emergency situation throughout the Belgorod region … with a subsequent appeal to the government to declare a federal emergency situation.”
Andriy Yermak, the pinnacle of the Ukrainian president’s workplace, has met with James O’Brien, the US assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs.
In a assertion, the presidential workplace mentioned Yermak thanked the US president, Joe Biden, and his staff, in addition to each homes and events in Congress, for serving to Ukraine.
The 2 officers mentioned the present state of affairs on the battlefield and the standing of defence agreements between Ukraine and the US, in keeping with the assertion, which famous that Yermak confused the significance of accelerating sanctions stress on Russia.
Russian authorities scramble to quell Ukraine’s week-long Kursk incursion
Shaun Walker
Russian authorities are scrambling to deliver the state of affairs in Kursk below management, every week after Ukrainian forces launched a shock assault within the area that has left a swathe of Russian territory below Kyiv’s management.
Russia used missiles, drones and airstrikes on Tuesday in an try and claw again territory, with one senior commander claiming Kyiv’s advance was over, even because the evacuation of residents from border areas continued.
“The uncontrolled ride of the enemy has already been halted,” mentioned Gen Apti Alaudinov, the commander of Akhmat, a Chechen particular forces unit. “The enemy is already aware that the blitzkrieg that it planned did not work out.”
Ukrainian forces had been nonetheless answerable for quite a few settlements, nevertheless, leaving the Kremlin trying to minimize the importance of the occasions.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s international ministry mentioned Kyiv had no real interest in the long-term occupation of the area. “Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need other people’s property. Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people,” Heorhii Tykhyi advised reporters in Kyiv.
Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk continues because it targets Russia with drones
Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s western Kursk area is continuous.
Russia mentioned at present that it had destroyed 117 Ukrainian drones in Russia in a single day, Reuters reported. Moscow mentioned the drones had been destroyed largely within the Kursk, Voronezh and Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod areas, and that missiles had additionally been shot down.
Late yesterday, Volodymyr Zelenskiy mentioned that “despite the difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region, and our state’s ‘exchange fund’ is growing”.
The Ukrainian president added: “74 communities are under Ukrainian control, where inspections and stabilization measures are being carried out.”