Fighting and drone strikes in Russia after Ukrainian incursion | War in Ukraine

Fighting flared on Friday in the Russian region of Kursk, where the Ukrainian military launched a major offensive three days ago and carried out overnight drone strikes that also targeted other parts of the country.

More than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers entered the area with about ten tanks and about twenty armored vehicles. KurskOn the Ukrainian border, according to Russian civil servants, it says it is doing everything to repel them.

Ukrainian forces, according to analysts, have penetrated dozens of kilometers into Russian territory.

Fighting continued there on Friday for the fourth day in a row, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed in a statement. Keep the check Ukrainian attacks.

The ministry, quoted by Russian news agencies, also said it would send additional equipment, including several rocket launchers, artillery pieces and tanks, to counter the Ukrainian incursion.

The ministry confirmed that Kiev troops had reached the Russian city SoujaAbout ten kilometers from the border, they claimed to have attacked Ukrainian units In the western suburbs The town has a population of 5,500.

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Souja It is also home to a transit hub for gas that still supplies Europe, particularly Slovakia and Hungary, via Ukraine.

In the Ukrainian part of Sumy facing that KurskPolice on Friday requested the evacuation of about 20,000 people living in 28 municipalities due to Russian strikes.

The move was an unexpected setback for the Kremlin, which until then had held the initiative and remained inexorably entrenched in eastern Ukraine, facing an outnumbered Kiev force, if Ukrainian forces’ progress was unclear.

Russia brought war to our country and must feel the consequencesIn his speech on Thursday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky began without directly mentioning the incursion.

Everyone can see that the Ukrainian army is amazing and knows how to achieve resultsHe also said in the evening, without further elaboration.

Ukrainian leaders, for now, are tight-lipped about the scope and goals of the operation.

A new drone attack

At the same time, Ukraine carried out new drone strikes against Russian territories during the night from Thursday to Friday.

The Ukrainian military claimed responsibility for the attack on an air base in the area LipetskMoscow has used a large number of weapons against Ukraine, claiming to have hit warehouses of guided air bombs.

According to this source, the base has tactical bombers and fighters. Russian news agencies Toss And Rhea NovostiQuoting regional authorities, they confirmed that there had been a fire.

Regional Governor Lipetsk, Igor Artamonov, Declaration of emergency after A Massive attack He said Ukrainian drones injured at least six people and damaged a power plant. He also ordered the evacuation of four villages.

According to Moscow’s Defense Ministry, Russian forces shot down a total of 75 Ukrainian drones overnight in at least seven regions and destroyed seven naval drones headed for the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea.

The US, Q’s main backer, reiterated that on Thursday Strongly supports Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself against Russian aggressionWithout commenting on the details of the situation in the Kursk region.

The picture of the incursion painted by military experts shows a rapid advance of Ukrainian troops, while the conflict in other areas of the front has turned into a war since the end of 2022 with slow and bloody advances.

According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based think tank, Ukrainian troops have penetrated up to 35 kilometers into Russian territory.

Several strikes in the Donetsk region

Russian troops, outnumbered and better armed, have been entrenched in the Donetsk region in recent weeks and could capture key cities if the trend continues, according to analysts.

The industrial town of Kostiantynivka, located 13 kilometers from the front in the same area, was devastated by a broad daylight strike at a supermarket on Friday, killing at least 11 people and injuring 44, according to the latest report from the Ukrainian Emergency. Services.

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According to this source, the Russian military, according to preliminary reports, used a Kh-38 missile to carry out the strike, which also damaged four houses, a post office and other businesses.

People are under the rubble. Rescue work is underwayPresident Volodymyr Zelensky, who condemned the attack, pointed out Russian terrorists In this industrial city.

A group from the siteAFP Dozens of people were seen fleeing the scene, while Ukrainian police officers warned of the risk of a second Russian strike at the same location, as help arrived.

Regional governor Vadim Filachkin noted in a telegram that about fifty people were inside the supermarket at the time of the strike and that rescuers were searching for people trapped in the rubble.

Earlier on Friday, Flashkin announced that four more civilians had been killed in other Russian attacks in the region.