Ukrainian forces launched a counterattack in the western border region of Kurskwarning that Russia “gets what it deserves”.
Although it was not immediately clear how far Ukraine has advanced in the region, the attack comes at a critical moment almost three years of conflict with both sides looking to increase their negotiating power in front of the US president-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House on January 20.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that he would again call on allies to strengthen his country's air defenses at a meeting of the Ramstein Group in Germany this week.
He said dozens of partner countries will take part in the meeting, “including those who can help improve our capabilities not only for defense against missiles, but also against guided bombs and Russian aircraft.”
“We will discuss it with them and continue to convince them,” Zelensky said in his late-night address on Saturday. “The task remains the same: strengthening our anti-aircraft defenses.'
Aksana Johannesson/AP
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin will attend the meeting, which was originally scheduled to take place in October and will be attended by President Biden. It was postponed due to Hurricane Milton, which hit the United States
In the last few weeks in office, the Biden administration has pushed for as much military aid as possible to be sent to Ukraine.
Ukraine used two tanks, a dozen armored vehicles and a blaster on Sunday in an assault headed toward the village of Berdyn — about 9 miles northeast of Suja, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
“The operation to destroy formations of the Ukrainian army continues,” the report says.
Pro-Kremlin military bloggers acknowledged that the Russian army was under pressure, but said Moscow was fighting back.
“The main events of another offensive attempt by the Ukrainian army are obviously yet to come,” said the influential pro-Russian Telegram channel Rybar.
Ukrainian officials did not provide details about the new offensive, and a prominent lawmaker called for silence.
“I cannot understand why it is necessary to officially report on the Kursk region. Maybe it's better to do it later, when the operation is over?” This was reported by Ukrainian deputy Oleksiy Honcharenko.
Other officials expressed their delight at the pushback, which came nearly three years after Moscow launched a full-scale military assault on Ukraine.
“Russia gets what it deserves,” said the head of the administration of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak.
The head of the Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation, Andrey Kavalenko, reported in Telegram that the defense forces are “working” in the area, without elaborating on the details.
“In the Kursk region, the Russians are very worried because they were attacked from several sides, and it was a surprise for them,” he said.
Roman Chop/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
Kyiv seized dozens of villages in Kursk Oblast shortly after launching its invasion on August 6, 2024, but its advance stalled after Moscow sent reinforcements to the area, including thousands of troops from its ally North Korea.
A source in the Ukrainian army told AFP last November that Kyiv still controls about 300 square miles of the Russian border region.
But Kyiv has so far been unable to stop Moscow's advance in Ukraine, which in 2024 was seven times greater than a year earlier, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War.
Both Russia and Ukraine have regularly exchanged attacks since the beginning of the year.
Russia said on Sunday it shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones overnight in a shelling that damaged homes and sparked an air alert, while Kiev said Moscow had launched 103 drones into its territory.
Four Russian airports briefly suspended traffic early Sunday for “security” reasons, causing at least eight planes to divert, a spokeswoman for Russia's civil aviation authority, Rosavia, said.