The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that “the Ukrainian military is repelling an attempt to invade the territory of the Russian Federation.”
Russia said it had used aircraft and artillery to suppress “enemy attack attempts.”
Early Tuesday, a “federal state of emergency” was declared in the Kursk region, a move that underscores how serious the situation is.
Russia said Tuesday morning that up to 1,000 Ukrainian troops, supported by tanks and armored vehicles, had entered the Kursk region.
Despite reserve deployments and evacuation orders, Russia is unable to slow Ukraine's advance.
This is more than any reconnaissance raid we have seen in the past, with hundreds of soldiers in armored vehicles believed to have penetrated up to 10km into Russian territory.
It is a dedicated attack that has shocked the Russian military and the Kremlin. For the past 18 months, Moscow has dictated the dynamics of this war.
Now, not only must the attack be contained, but it is also being criticized domestically for failing to stop it in the first place.
Despite long-standing Western concerns about escalating tensions, Ukraine's allies agree that the operation is part of their right to defend themselves.
President Zelensky has not yet directly commented on the attack, but said in a video address late Thursday that “Russia brought war to our land, and it should feel what it has done.”
But on the battlefield, the Ukrainian army was still outnumbered by the Russian army, making it difficult to distinguish between good strategy and miscalculation.
