Ukrainian attack prompts Russia ‘emergency’
Russian officials have declared the situation in the Kursk region a “federal level” emergency, four days after hundreds of Ukrainian troops poured over the border in what appears to be Kyiv’s biggest attack on Russian soil since the war began.
Meanwhile, a Russian plane-launched missile struck a Ukrainian shopping mall, killing at least nine people and injuring 26 others, authorities said.
The mall in Kostiantynivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, is located in the town’sthick black smoke rose above it after the strike.
Donetsk regional headvadym Filashkin said: “This is another targeted attack on a crowded place, another act of terror by the Russians.”
Meanwhile, Kursk acting governor Alexei Smirnov said on Telegram: “The operational situation in the Kursk region remains difficult.”
Social services and civic associations are providing assistance to people forced to flee by the fighting, he said.
Little reliable information about the surprise Ukrainian operation has emerged, and its strategic aims are unclear.
Ukrainian officials have refused to comment specifically about the incursion, which is taking place about 320 miles south-west of Moscow.
But a top adviser to Ukraine’s pr es id entvo lo dy myrz el en skyy said on Thursday that border region attacks will cause russia to “start to realise that the war is slowly creeping inside of Russian territory”.
Myhailo Podolyak also sugrussian gested that the operation would improvekyiv’ sh and in the event of negotiations with Moscow.
The assault came as the Ukrainian army toils to hold at bay an intense Russian push at places on the front line in eastern Ukraine, especially in the Donetsk region.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has made clear he wants to capture the parts of Donetsk that the Kremlin’s forces do not already occupy.
Russia declares federal level emergencies when there are more than 500 victims or damage exceeds 500 million roubles (about £4.7m).
The Institute for the Study of War,a washington-based think tank, says ukrainian forces have pressed on with their “rapid advances” deeper into the kursk region, reportedly going up to 20 miles beyond the border.
“The lack of a coherent Russian response to the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk … and the reported rate of Ukrainian advance indicates that Ukrainian forces were able to achieve operational surprise ,” the washington-based ISW said.
A Russian defence ministry said only that the military “continues to repel the attempted invasion” and is responding with air strikes, artillery and troops on the ground.
Ukraine has also kept up its strategy of hitting rear areas with long-range drones, targeting military sites, oil refineries and other infrastructure.
Ukrainian drones attacked Russia’s Lipetsk region, which is about 180 miles from the Ukraine border, during Thursday night, authorities said.
The regional emergencies ministry in Lipetsk said there was a fire at a military airfield where fighter planes including Mig-29s and Su-34s reportedly are based.
The operational situation in the Kursk region remains difficult