Russia evacuates another border region amid growing threat from
Ukrainian units
Send a link to a friend
[August 12, 2024]
By Guy Faulconbridge and Lidia Kelly
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Monday evacuated civilians from parts of a
second region next to Ukraine after Kyiv increased military activity
near the border just days after its biggest incursion into sovereign
Russian territory since the start of the 2022 war.
Ukrainian forces rammed through the Russian border last Tuesday and
swept across some Western parts of Russia's Kursk region, a surprise
attack that may be aimed at gaining leverage in possible ceasefire talks
after the U.S. election in November.
Apparently caught by surprise, Russia by Sunday had stabilized the front
in the Kursk region, though Ukraine had carved out a sliver of Russian
territory where battles were continuing on Monday, according to Russian
war bloggers.
In the neighboring Belgorod region to the south, regional governor
Vyacheslav Gladkov said evacuations had begun from the Krasnaya Yaruga
District due to "enemy activity on the border".
"I am sure that our servicemen will do everything to cope with the
threat that has arisen," Gladkov said. "We are starting to move people
who live in the Krasnaya Yaruga district to safer places."
Russia has imposed tight security in the Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod
regions while its ally Belarus said it was bolstering its troop numbers
at its border after Minsk said Ukraine had violated its airspace with
drones.
Russian officials say Ukraine's attacks on Russian sovereign territory
are aimed at showing its Western supporters that Kyiv can still muster
major military operations while trying to gain a bargaining chip ahead
of possible ceasefire talks.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and now controls 18% of
Ukrainian territory. Russian forces, which have a vast numerical
supremacy, have been advancing this year along the 1,000-km (620-mile)
front after the failure of Ukraine's 2023 counteroffensive to make any
major gains.
Kyiv broke its silence on the attacks on Saturday when President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine had launched an incursion into Russian
territory to "restore justice" and pressure Moscow's forces.
WAR
The Ukrainian attack has prompted some in Moscow to question why Ukraine
was able to pierce the Kursk region so easily after more than two years
of the most intense land war in Europe since World War Two.
[to top of second column]
|

Ukrainian servicemen ride a military vehicle, amid Russia's attack
on Ukraine, near the Russian border in Sumy region, Ukraine August
11, 2024. REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi

Russian war bloggers said Ukrainian forces in Kursk were trying to
encircle Sudzha, where Russian natural gas flows into Ukraine, while
major battles were underway near Korenevo, about 22 km (14 miles)
from the border, and Martynovka.
"The situation on the borders of the western Belgorod region is
alarming," said Yuri Podolyaka, an influential pro-Russian military
blogger, adding that Ukraine was probing the border at several
places.
"The enemy has three fairly large groupings here."
Since the Aug. 6 border incursion into Kursk, the Russian rouble has
weakened, losing 6% of its value against the U.S. dollar. Russia's
Gazprom said it would send 39.6 million cubic meters(mcm) of gas to
Europe via Ukraine on Monday.
Though the United States said it had not been told of the Ukrainian
operation before it was unleashed, there were signs in Moscow that
the attack would provoke a response from Russia.
"We have no doubt that the organisers and perpetrators of these
crimes, including their foreign curators, will bear responsibility
for them," said Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign
Ministry.
"A tough response from the Russian Armed Forces will not take long."
At the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, in a part of Ukraine
controlled by Russian forces, a major fire broke out.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Guy Faulconbridge in
Moscow; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Angus MacSwan)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |