Russia said it has stopped the advance of hundreds of troops in an assault on a town in the border region of Kursk, but fighting continues. Russian President Putin accused Ukraine of a “large-scale provocation.”
Russia said on Wednesday that it was continuing to battle Ukrainian troops that crossed into the border region of Kursk a day earlier.
“The operation for the destruction of Ukrainian army units is continuing,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on social media.
“The enemy’s movement further into Russian territory has been prevented.”
Army chief says around 1,000 fighters involved
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was carrying out a “large-scale provocation” in the region.
During a video conference involving Putin, military Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and others, Gerasimov told Putin that the advance had been halted but that fighting continued in the border area neighboring northeastern Ukraine.
Gerasimov said that starting on Tuesday morning, “a unit of Ukraine’s armed forces numbering up to 1,000 people went on the offensive,” aiming to seize Russian territory.
Kursk’s acting governor meanwhile said that several thousand people had been told to leave from the border region.
“In the last 24 hours, our region has been heroically resisting attacks,” Alexei Smirnov said.
He also urged locals to donate blood.
Similarly, Ukraine on Wednesday afternoon ordered the evacuation of 23 settlements in the Sumy border region, affecting around 6,000 people.
