Ukrainian soldiers drive an armoured military vehicle in the Sumy region, near the Russian border, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on August 13, 2024. Ukraine launched a surprise offensive in the Russian border region of Kursk on August 6, 2024, seizing more than two dozen towns and villages in the most significant cross-border assault on Russian soil since World War II. | Photo credit: AFP
Ukraine said on Tuesday (August 13, 2024) that it would not stick to the deal. Occupation of Russian territory Russia made sudden incursions across the border and offered to stop the raids if Moscow agreed to a “just peace.”
Ukrainian forces entered Russia’s Kursk region last Tuesday and seized more than two dozen settlements, the biggest assault by a foreign force on Russian soil since World War II.
More than 120,000 people have fled the region and Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Sirsky said on Monday his troops had taken control of about 1,000 square kilometres of Russian territory.
An AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War showed at least 800 square kilometres of territory remained under Ukrainian control.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgy Tykhiy said on Tuesday that Kiev has no interest in “occupying” Russian territory and described Ukraine’s actions as “completely legitimate.”
“The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace… the sooner the raids into Russia by the Ukrainian defence forces will stop,” he told reporters.
Ukraine also said it was restricting movement in the Sumy region along the border due to an “increase in the intensity of hostilities” and “sabotage” activities.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had “thwarted” a Ukrainian attack in Kursk, which was “carried out by enemy mobile groups in armored vehicles in an attempt to penetrate deep into Russian territory.”
Since launching its invasion in February 2022, Russia has seized swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine and launched missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities.
blindfolded prisoner of war
Ukraine finds itself outnumbered and outgunned, and has struggled to push back Russian forces in 2022 after some initial successes.
The current offensive in the Kursk region, which has taken Russia by surprise, is the largest cross-border action since the invasion.
AFP correspondents on the Ukrainian side of the border crossing in the Kursk region saw collapsed concrete walls and the shattered remains of security and customs buildings, highlighting the intensity of the fighting in the area.
On the road, about 10 people blindfolded and dressed in Russian military uniforms are being driven in a military vehicle across the border towards the city of Sumy.
“They did not defend the border,” a Ukrainian soldier who took part in the attack and gave his name as Ruzhik told AFP in the Sumy region.
“They only had anti-personnel mines scattered around trees along the road and a few mines which they managed to quickly spread across the highways,” he said.
Another soldier said his unit of military engineers went to clear landmines ahead of the entry of Ukrainian tanks.
“But when our people came in the Russians ran away. They didn’t have time to press the detonation button.”
A 27-year-old squad leader who gave his name as Faraon gave a brief but straightforward description of the fighting at Kursk.
“I saw a lot of deaths in the first few days. It was horrific at first but then we got used to it,” he told AFP.
“There have been many deaths,” he said, standing beside a forest road leading to the border, without elaborating.
‘Sowing discord’
Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to “remove” Ukrainian troops.
Putin said in a televised meeting with officials on Monday that “a clear goal of the enemy is to sow discord” and “destroy the unity and cohesion of Russian society.”
Putin also said Ukraine “wants to improve its negotiating position” for any future talks with Moscow.
Regional governor Alexei Smirnov told the same meeting that Ukrainian forces had advanced at least 12 kilometres into the region and that the new front was now 40 kilometres wide.
Russia previously acknowledged that Ukrainian forces had in some places penetrated up to 30 kilometres (20 miles) into Russian territory.
A Ukrainian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP over the weekend that Ukraine wanted to “escalate the enemy’s position, inflict maximum damage and destabilise the situation in Russia, as they are unable to defend their border.”
The Ukrainian official said thousands of Ukrainian soldiers were involved in the operation.