In a surprising military move, Ukrainian soldiers have attacked the Russian mainland, shocking Moscow by the unprecedented manoeuvre and successfully capturing what military experts now estimate to be about 150 sq. kms of Russian territory across the international border between Ukraine and Russia.
Kyiv is esteemed to have dispatched a Brigade’s force of elite soldiers into Russia, approx. 4000 troops, backed by armoured vehicles, tanks artillery and drones to the Kursk region on 6 August, according to both Russian and Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself has acknowledged the incursion on Saturday, saying that Ukrainian forces were fighting in Kursk (mainland Russia), and the operation was part of Kyiv’s attempt to restore justice after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The Ukrainian president’s comments came hours after Russia said it had introduced “anti-terrorism measures” in Kursk and two other regions bordering Ukraine in response to Kyiv’s military operation and declared a “Federal Level State of Emergency in Kursk.”
The measures initiated by Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee in Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk included limits on transport in specific areas, tightened security around sensitive sites, and wiretaps of telephone and other communications, according to Russian media.
The decision taken by Alexander Bortnikov, the Head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), was in response to Ukraine’s “unprecedented attempt to destabilise the situation in a series of regions.”
More than 76,000 people had been evacuated from areas in the Kursk region, Russia’s local Emergency Ministry announced on Saturday.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said more troops and munitions were being deployed in the border area near Kursk ahead of a possible counteroffensive.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the incursion a “large-scale provocation” by Ukraine, and the military’s Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov has promised to crush it.
Surprise Attack
In the attack which took the Russians by surprise, the Ukrainian forces have captured the strategic Russian town of Sudzha, which is crucial as it is the location of the only pumping station that delivers Russian natural gas to Europe via Ukraine.
Despite the ongoing war, Ukraine still rents its Soviet-era gas pipeline to Russia’s gas giant, Gazprom, for $ 2 billion a year. This transit deal expires in January 2025 – if the raid doesn’t stop it now.
Because of the attack, “there is a risk of a pause of [Russia’s] natural gas supplies to the European Union via our transit system,” Kyiv-based analyst Aleksey Kushch told media outlets.
Another another Ukrainian analyst, Taras Zahorodniy “The main thing [about the attack] is energy supplies. The more destabilised they are, the more destabilised the Russian economy is.”
What Ukraine’s end game through the incursion is, remains to be seen as Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy head of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said commenting on the matter “Results will show whether this is good news or bad news [for Ukraine].”
