Russian President Vladimir Putin stated Monday that his military was quickly advancing in jap Ukraine, citing this as proof that Kyiv’s cross-border incursion into the Kursk area was failing.
His feedback got here simply earlier than he left Russia for a go to to Mongolia, a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) — a visit seen as a present of defiance following the courtroom’s issuance of an arrest warrant for him final 12 months.
Moscow’s forces have been notching up territorial positive factors on the sprawling frontline in jap Ukraine at the same time as Ukraine launched a shock border incursion onto its personal territory.
Putin acknowledged the difficulties Ukraine’s counteroffensive — the most important assault by a overseas military on Russia since World War II — was placing on Russian border areas, however struck a defiant tone.
“People are experiencing and undergoing severe hardship, especially in the Kursk region,” Putin stated in a speech to schoolchildren at a televised occasion in Siberia.
“But the enemy did not achieve the main task that they set themselves: to stop our offensive in the Donbas… We have not had such a pace of offensive in the Donbas for a long time,” he stated.
The Donbas refers to a big space of jap Ukraine protecting the areas of Donetsk and Lugansk, which Moscow claims to have annexed.
– ‘Bandits’ –
Analysis of troop positions confirmed that Russia’s advance within the east gained floor in August, with its forces homing in on the important thing logistics hub of Pokrovsk, in Ukraine’s Donetsk area.
Russia superior on 477 sq. kilometres (184 sq. miles) of Ukrainian territory in August, Moscow’s greatest month-to-month enhance since October 2022, in response to information equipped by the Institute for the Study of War and analysed by AFP.
Ukraine in the meantime made its personal speedy positive factors in early August, advancing greater than 1,100 sq. kilometres into Russia’s Kursk area in two weeks, although its progress has slowed just lately because the scenario there has stabilised.
Kyiv stated the purpose of the offensive was to attract Russian troops away from jap Ukraine and stretch Moscow’s forces.
Around 130,000 folks have fled the Russian border area because the begin of the combating.
“We have to, of course, deal with these bandits that entered the territory of the Russian Federation, specifically the Kursk region, attempting to destabilise the situation in the border areas,” Putin stated, in a few of his strongest feedback but on the Ukrainian counterattack.
– ‘No progress’ –
Russia claims to have captured a string of villages and settlements in jap Ukraine in current weeks, inching in direction of the town of Pokrovsk.
Pokrovsk lies on the intersection of a key street that provides Ukrainian troops and cities throughout the jap entrance and has lengthy been a goal for Moscow’s military.
Ukraine has rushed to evacuate households from the town, which was residence to round 60,000 folks earlier than Moscow launched its 2022 assault.
Around 30,500 folks stay regardless of repeated calls to go away, Mayor Serhii Dobriak stated Monday.
The Russian defence ministry stated in a briefing Monday that it had captured the Donetsk village of Skuchne, with out offering additional particulars.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted the frontline had not moved.
“In the Pokrovsk direction, no matter how difficult it is, there has been no progress for two days. This is what the Commander-in-Chief told me,” he stated.
He added that Ukraine forces had captured greater than 600 Russian troopers in its Kursk offensive, which Kyiv hopes to swap for Ukrainian fighters held by Russia.
– Missiles –
Russia continued its marketing campaign of aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities in a single day, firing 35 missiles and 23 drones, Zelensky stated earlier Monday.
Loud explosions have been heard within the capital round 5:30 am (0230 GMT), AFP journalists in Kyiv stated.
Zelensky stated a mosque there had been “severely damaged” and condemned Russia for its “destruction campaign against the Ukrainian people”.
Three folks have been wounded within the capital, and the workplace of a Danish NGO was broken.
Ukraine shot down 9 ballistic missiles, 13 cruise missiles and 20 drones within the assault, the air drive stated.
Separately, Russian shelling on Monday killed a girl in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv area, Governor Oleg Synegubov stated.
Source: www.anews.com.tr