‘Difficult’ situation as Russia claims it’s battling ‘major Ukrainian offensive’
Moscow said around 300 Ukrainian fighters took part in the attack
Russia on Tuesday (Aug 6) alleged that Ukraine had launched a major offensive on itssouthern border region of Kursk involving hundreds of fighters, and it had rushed troops to repel the attack. Moscow claimed the fighters were backed by military tanks.
Earlier, the Russian regional governor said the attackers had been pushed back but a statement by thedefence ministry later stressed that the fighting was still going on.
The statement gave details about the troops and personnel that Russia was mobilising to thwart the alleged offensive.
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"Troops covering the state border, together with units of the border troops of the FSB (security service) of Russia, are repelling attacks and inflicting fire on the enemy in the area of the state border and on (Ukrainian) reserves in the Sumy region," the statement said.
The statement claimed that Russia had deployed warplanes to take down Ukrainian armoured vehicles.
Moscow said around 300 Ukrainian fighters, 11 tanks and more than 20 armoured combat vehicles took part in the attack Tuesday, which targeted Russian border units in Nikolayevo-Daryino and Oleshnya.
Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of the Kursk region, described the situation as “difficult”, saying two Russian nationals had been killed by shelling and drone attacks. He also said dozens of Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight.
Russia added that six Ukrainian tanks, four armoured personnel carriers and six other armoured vehicles were destroyed in the counter-offensive.
Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, there have been several incursions into Russian territory by volunteer fighters enlisted under the Ukrainian flag.
In May 2023, Ukrainian-based Freedom of Russia Legion launched raids in Russia’s Belgorod.
Earlier in March 2023, a group called the Russian Volunteer Corps allegedly raided the Russian border region of Bryansk.
Russian claims couldn’t be verified by WION independently. News agency AP tried reaching the Ukrainian General Staff and Ministry of Defence for comments but no response was received.
(With inputs from agencies)
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