Zelensky for the first time approves of steps to “move the war” to Russia

Russia is trying to retaliate against Kiev’s attack on its territory. To this end, Moscow established an “anti-terrorist” regime in three regions bordering Ukraine on Saturday, the fifth day of a Ukrainian-armed offensive on Kursk.

Until now, Kyiv had refrained from public comments on the attack, but in the evening Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time authorized steps to “move the war” into Russian territory.

Several tens of kilometers of Ukrainian advance

The Ukrainian offensive began Tuesday morning when army units crossed the border into the Kursk region, advancing several dozen kilometers there, independent analysts said.

Faced with this “unprecedented attempt to destabilize the situation”, Russian authorities announced the establishment of a “regime of anti-terrorist operations” in the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions overnight from Friday to Saturday. The measure specifically includes “restrictions on the movement of vehicles and pedestrians on streets and roads” and the use of communication devices.

On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry vowed to “continue to repulse attempts by Ukrainian armed forces to cross the border” using aircraft and artillery. He had announced the day before that reinforcements would be sent.

Belarus is unhappy

For its part, in a telegram, the Defense Ministry of Belarus, a country allied with Moscow but whose soldiers have not directly taken part in the hostilities, announced that it was strengthening its presence in the Komal region on the border with Ukraine by deploying additional troops and missiles. In order to respond to “any possible provocation”. On social networks, Belarusian diplomacy slammed the “senseless adventure” of Kiev’s forces and condemned the “very serious incident”, saying that Ukrainian drones were shot down at night over Belarus.

More than 76,000 people living in the border areas of the Kursk region have been “temporarily” evacuated to “safe places”, a representative of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said on Saturday. Russian officials said on Tuesday that five civilians were killed and 55 wounded in the incursion, but did not provide a new toll.

The Russian military confirmed on Friday that Ukrainian troops had reached the town of Soudja, a town of 5,500 residents, ten kilometers from the border, which is still a transit hub for gas supplies via Europe-Hungary and Slovakia-Ukraine.