Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged for the primary time that his army is conducting a cross-border offensive inside Russia’s western Kursk area.
In his video handle late on Saturday, Mr Zelensky mentioned Ukraine’s army was pushing the battle onto “the aggressor’s territory”.
Kyiv launched its shock assault on Tuesday, quickly advancing greater than 10km (six miles) inside Russia – the deepest raid since Moscow started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In Ukraine, the capital Kyiv and several other different areas got here underneath a Russian drone and missile assault within the early hours of Sunday, native officers mentioned.
In his handle, President Zelensky thanked Ukraine’s “warriors”, and mentioned he had mentioned the operation in Russia with the nation’s high army commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.
“Ukraine is proving that it might probably certainly restore justice and make sure the essential strain on the aggressor,” he added.
Russia has thus far struggled to halt the Ukrainian advance, with greater than 76,000 folks evacuated from the Kursk area and a “counter-terror” regime imposed throughout three border areas.
This implies authorities in Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk areas can limit the motion of individuals and automobiles and use cellphone tapping amongst different measures.
The combating seemed to be ongoing on Saturday evening, with Kursk Governor Aleksei Smirnov saying early on Sunday that there have been injured folks in a “treacherous” Ukrainian assault.
He earlier reported that 13 folks have been injured late on Saturday when the wreckage of a downed Ukrainian missile fell on a multi-storey constructing within the regional capital Kursk.
The governors of Russia’s neighbouring Voronezh and Belgorod areas additionally reported a Ukrainian drone assault in a single day. They didn’t point out any accidents.
In Ukraine, a 35-year-old man and his four-year-old son have been killed within the Kyiv area when a rocket fragment fell on residential homes, emergency providers mentioned on Sunday.
Three extra have been wounded, together with a 13-year-old baby.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko posted on Telegram early on Sunday morning that air defence items have been “working” and warned civilians to remain in shelters.
Ukraine’s uncommon incursion into Russia started on Tuesday morning, when as much as 1,000 troops, supported by tanks and armoured automobiles, entered the Kursk area, Russia mentioned.
The Ukrainians have since reportedly seized plenty of villages, and are additionally threatening the regional city of Sudzha.
On Friday, a video emerged displaying armed Ukrainian troopers who claimed to have management over the city, in addition to a key Russian fuel facility there owned by the Gazprom firm.
BBC Confirm has confirmed that the footage was certainly from the Gazprom facility on the north-western outskirts of Sudzha, about 7km from the border with Ukraine. The video alone doesn’t confirm the declare that Ukrainian troops have taken the entire city.
Russian army bloggers earlier claimed that the city was nonetheless in Moscow’s arms.
BBC Confirm confirmed the situation of one other video posted on-line on Friday morning. It reveals a 15-vehicle Russian convoy broken, burned and deserted on a highway by the city of Oktyabrskoe, roughly 38km from the border on the Russian aspect.
The footage additionally reveals Russian troopers – some injured, some probably lifeless – among the many automobiles.
Moscow has since despatched reinforcements – together with tanks and rocket-launcher programs – to the Kursk area, saying that Russian troops have been “persevering with to repel the tried invasion” of Ukrainian forces.
The Russian declare has not been independently verified.
On Friday, the UN nuclear company urged each Russia and Ukraine to “train most restraint” because the combating was edging nearer to the Kursk nuclear energy plant – one of many largest such amenities in Russia.
Worldwide Atomic Vitality Company (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi mentioned measures have to be taken “to keep away from a nuclear accident with the potential for critical radiological penalties”.
The ability plant is positioned about 60km north-east of Sudzha.
