Ukraine launched a surprise counteroffensive inside Russia, putting Vladimir Putin’s troops on the back foot on their home soil.
Clashes erupted on Tuesday in the region bordering Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region. While anti-Kremlin militia groups have previously carried out surprise raids into the border region of Belgorod, this incursion increasingly appears to be on a different scale, reportedly involving multiple Ukrainian units and armored convoys.
While Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that the attack was being neutralised, intense fighting continues in multiple locations. Meanwhile, Russian war analysts and the “z-blogger” community have grown increasingly frustrated with and furious at Putin military’s response to the attack.
Live news updates of Ukraine’s incursion into Russia.
Getty/AP/Telegram
- Ukraine troops reportedly control up to 130 square miles of Russian territory as of Thursday morning.
- On Wednesday president Vladimir Putin convened an emergency security council meeting to address the threat.
- Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president, vowed to respond “mercilessly” and to penetrate further into Ukrainian territory following.
- Kyiv has said little about the strategy behind the surprise offensive, but hinted at its core objective on Thursday morning.
- Russian state media reacted with shock and outrage to the Ukrainian assault, with one pundit calling for a “nuclear strike” on Kursk to thwart Ukraine’s advances.
Kursk’s administrative online resources and networks have come under a massive cyberattack, Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development reported on Thursday, adding that the attack has been repelled.
Earlier on Thursday reports across Russia indicated that the video streaming service YouTube has become inaccessible from Russian IP addresses.
Russia has in the past toyed with the idea of a total ban on YouTube and other Western online services, and earlier this week users across Russia reported sharp declines in YouTube loading speeds.
Mercenaries supplied by the notorious Wagner Group are allegedly being redeployed from Africa to Kursk as Russia scrambles to push back Ukrainian forces, according to reports on Thursday.
“Didn’t I say there would be some good news? So here you go — Wagner Group fighters are returning to Russia,” the pro-war milblogger Yegor Guzenko wrote on Telegram.
Russian outlet Mash also claimed the PMC founded by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin were heading back to the Ukraine frontlines, “just like they were in 2022”, possibly in reference to “Putin chef’s” infamous March on Moscow.
Wagner made the headlines last week when dozens of its mercenaries in Mali were reportedly killed in an ambush by anti-government Tuareg rebels.
Photos and videos published on pro-Ukraine channels appear to show Russian troops surrendering en masse in Kursk, with reportedly as many as 60 taken prisoner by Kyiv’s forces.
Sudzha Border Crossing post, Russia, 6-7 August.
The Film/pics Russians don’t want to see.
Possibly the largest mass RuAF surrender of the war so far. Over 60 Russians: 22 reportedly marching at 51.173729, 35.140698 to join approx 40 sitting in a line.@GeoConfirmed @UAControlMap… pic.twitter.com/iCdU4rKnxN— Dan (@Danspiun) August 7, 2024
The incidents took place on August 6-7 near the border with Ukraine, according to reports in Russian and Ukrainian media.
Newsweek could not immediately verify the accuracy of the claims.
