Putin accuses Ukraine of a ‘large-scale provocation’ with its raid in southwestern Russia

Kyiv, Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday described a Ukrainian incursion into the country’s southwestern Kursk region as a “large-scale provocation,” as his officials said they were fighting cross-border incursions for a second day. Ukrainian officials remained silent about the scope of the operation.

Putin met with his top defense and security officials to discuss what he called the “indiscriminate shelling of civilian buildings, residential houses and ambulances with different types of weapons.” He instructed the Cabinet to coordinate assistance to the Kursk region. The fighting is taking place about 500 kilometers (320 miles) from Moscow.

Army Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov told Putin at the meeting via video link that around 100 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the battle and more than 200 wounded, Russian news agencies reported.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian bombing killed at least two people (a paramedic and an ambulance driver) and injured 24, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

It was not possible to independently verify the Russian claims. Disinformation and propaganda have played a central role in warnow in its third year.

The head of the region urged residents to donate blood due to intense fighting. “Over the past 24 hours, our region has been heroically resisting attacks” by Ukrainian fighters, acting governor Alexei Smirnov said on Telegram, adding that all emergency services were on high alert.

Smirnov said authorities had evacuated more than 200 people from the bombed areas, while several thousand more left in their own vehicles.

If confirmed, the cross-border incursion would be among Ukraine’s largest since Russia’s large-scale invasion in February 2022, and is unprecedented for its deployment of Ukrainian military units.

kyiv’s goal could be to draw Russian reserves into the area, potentially weakening Moscow’s offensive operations in several parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, where Russian forces have increased attacks and are gradually moving toward operationally significant gains.

But it could risk stretching Ukrainian troops further along the front line, which is more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) long.

Even if Russia committed reserves to stabilize the new front, given its vast personnel and the relatively small number of Ukrainian forces involved in the operation, it would likely have little long-term impact.

However, the operation could boost Ukrainian morale at a time when kyiv’s forces face relentless Russian attacks and are expected to face more in the coming weeks.

Several Ukrainian brigades stationed along the border region said they could not comment. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry and General Staff said they would not comment.

Russian forces have quickly repelled previous cross-border incursions, but not before they caused damage and embarrassed authorities.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that up to 300 Ukrainian soldiers, supported by 11 tanks and more than 20 armored fighting vehicles, had crossed into Russia and suffered heavy losses.

On Wednesday, he said military and border guard troops “continued to destroy Ukrainian military units in the areas along the border in the Kursk region.”

The ministry said Russian forces backed by artillery and fighter jets “did not allow the enemy to advance deeper into the territory of the Russian Federation.”

Open source monitors have also been unable to verify the claims. The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War could not verify whether damaged and abandoned armored vehicles shown in a video geolocated 7 kilometers (4 miles) north of the border west of Lyubimovka, in the Kursk region, were Ukrainians.

The think tank also cast doubt on video shared by Russian military bloggers that claimed to show the consequences of the Ukrainian incursions. Most of the damage shown “appears to be the result of routine Ukrainian shelling and does not indicate that there was ground activity in the area,” he said in his daily briefing.

Responsibility for previous raids Entry into Russia’s Belgorod and Bryansk regions has been claimed by two shady groups: the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Russian Freedom Legion, which are made up of Russian citizens and have fought alongside Ukrainian forces.

Some Russian war bloggers who have demonstrated knowledge of the war said that there were Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk.

Rybar, a Telegram channel run by Mikhail Zvinchuk, a retired Russian Defense Ministry press officer, said Ukrainian troops had seized three settlements in the region and were continuing to push through them.

Another pro-Kremlin military blog, Two Majors, claimed that Ukrainian troops had advanced up to 15 kilometers (9 miles) into the region.

Neither claim could be independently verified.

The Kursk region’s border with Ukraine is 245 kilometers (150 miles) long, making it possible for groups of saboteurs to launch quick raids and capture some ground before Russia deploys reinforcements.

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