Ukraine continues airstrikes in Kursk

2024-08-13 08:14:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

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Ukraine carried out new drone strikes in the Russian border region of Kursk on August 13, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the West for backing Kiev's surprise incursion into Russian territory.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defense units have destroyed 12 drones over the Kursk region.

Ukraine launched its offensive in Kursk a week ago and on Monday claimed to have taken control of 1,000 square kilometers in the region.

Putin said a day earlier that the Ukrainian incursion - the largest since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - is aimed at improving Kiev's negotiating position in potential peace talks.

Speaking about the attack, he said that Kiev, "with the help of its Western masters" is trying to slow the advance of Russian forces, in what the Kremlin calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine.

On Monday, the chief commander of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Syrkysi, told President Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukrainian troops are continuing their advance on Russian territory.

"We are continuing to carry out an offensive operation in the Kursk region. Currently, we have under control about 1,000 square kilometers of the territory of the Russian Federation," he said, according to a video published on Zelensky's Telegram account. These claims could not be independently confirmed.

The acting governor of Kursk, Aleksey Smirnov, has stated that Ukrainian forces have entered 12 kilometers into the Kursk region along a 40-kilometer front and currently have 28 Russian settlements under their control.

In Kursk, as a result of the fighting, 121,000 people have been evacuated and another 59,000 are in the process of being evacuated, local officials said. Meanwhile, in the Russian region of Belgorod, which is adjacent to Kursk, 11,000 civilians have also been evacuated.

Ukrainian forces in Kursk are trying to encircle Sudzhan, where Russian natural gas passes to Ukraine, while a major battle is taking place near Korenevo, about 22 kilometers from the border, and in Martinovka, according to Russian war bloggers.

The Ukrainian Air Force said on August 13 that Russia carried out 38 drone strikes and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles overnight.

According to the military, 30 drones were destroyed over eight Ukrainian regions.

Meanwhile, authorities in the Ukrainian region of Sumy reported one person injured and damage to an electricity supply line and a gas pipeline.

The attack also damaged a hospital, authorities said.

Russia has intensified attacks in the northern Ukrainian regions since Kiev's forces launched their incursion into the Kursk region./ Rel