Putin accuses Ukraine of interfering in Russia

2024-08-07 22:54:45, Kosova & Bota CNA

Putin accuses Ukraine of interfering in Russia

The aftermath of an attack near Kursk, Russia July 16, 2024. Source, Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday described an attack inside Russian territory by Ukrainian troops in the southwestern Kursk region as a "large-scale provocation." Moscow announced that it is fighting cross-border raids for two days. Ukrainian officials have not commented on the matter.

President Putin met with his top defense and security officials to discuss what he called "indiscriminate shelling of civilian buildings, residential homes, ambulances, with various types of weapons." He instructed the cabinet to coordinate aid for the Kursk region. The fighting is taking place about 500 kilometers from Moscow.

Russian army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov told President Putin in the virtual meeting that about 100 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the battle and more than 200 were wounded, Russian news agencies reported.

Meanwhile, shelling from Ukraine killed at least two people and wounded 24 others, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement. Russian data has not been confirmed by independent sources.

Throughout the three years of war in Ukraine, fake news and propaganda have played a central role.

The head of the district where the fighting is taking place called on the residents to donate blood because of the fierce fighting. "In the last 24 hours, our region has heroically resisted attacks by Ukrainian fighters," Acting Governor Alexei Smirnov said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that all emergency services were on high alert.

Mr. Smirnov said authorities had evacuated more than 200 people from areas under shelling, while several thousand others fled in their vehicles.

If confirmed, the cross-border attack would be among Ukraine's largest since the start of Russian aggression in February 2022 and unprecedented when it comes to the deployment of Ukrainian military units.

Kiev's goal may be to withdraw the Russian military from the area, which could weaken Moscow's offensive operations in parts of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. In Donetsk, Russian forces have increased their attacks and are gradually advancing.

These Ukrainian attacks, however, could jeopardize the deployment of Ukrainian troops further along the front line, which is more than 1,000 kilometers long.

If Russia were to commit reserves to stabilize the new front, given its large manpower and the relatively small number of Ukrainian forces involved in the operation, Ukrainian attacks are likely to have little long-term impact.

However, the operation could boost Ukrainian morale at a time when Kiev's forces are facing heavy Russian attacks and are expected to face more attacks in the coming weeks.

Russian forces have quickly repelled previous cross-border attacks.

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

She said on Wednesday that Russian military troops "continued to destroy Ukrainian military units in areas along the border in the Kursk region."

The ministry said that Russian forces supported by artillery and fighter jets "did not allow the enemy to advance deeper into the territory of the Russian Federation."

Independent observers of developments in the region have not been able to verify Russian claims. The US-based Institute for the Study of War could not verify whether the damaged and abandoned armored vehicles shown in a video showing the location 7 kilometers north of the border in the Kursk region were Ukrainian.

The panel of experts also cast doubt on video shared by Russian military bloggers claiming to show the aftermath of the Ukrainian raids. Most of the damage reported "appears to be the result of routine shelling from Ukraine and does not indicate that there has been ground activity in the area," the institute said in the daily report.

Responsibility for previous ground interventions in Russia's Belgorod and Bryansk regions has been murky. Two groups have claimed responsibility for previous attacks: the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Russian Freedom Legion, which are made up of Russian citizens and have fought alongside Ukrainian forces.

Several Russian war bloggers who have testified knowledge of the war said that in Kursk, the ground intervention was being carried out by Ukrainian soldiers.

Rybar, a channel on the Telegram app run by Mikhail Zvinchuk, a former Russian Defense Ministry press officer, said Ukrainian troops had taken control of three settlements in the region and continued to fight deeper into Russian territory.

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

Neither claim could be independently verified.

Kursk region's border with Ukraine is 245 kilometers long, making it possible for subversive groups to launch quick interventions and capture some ground before Russia deploys reinforcements./ VOA