Ukraine pushes deeper into Russia as Moscow sends reinforcements

Ukrainian forces broke across the border on Tuesday in a thrust that caught the Russian military by surprise after months of gradual advances in eastern Ukraine by Moscow’s forces.

Politicians and the military are referring to a Ukrainian “invasion” nearly two and a half years after Russia launched its own full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

Authorities have declared a federal state of emergency in Kursk.

Two days after military Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to Putin that the advance had been halted, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces “continue to repel an attempted invasion by the armed forces of Ukraine into the territory of the Russian Federation”.

Interfax news agency quoted the ministry as saying that Russia was sending in columns of reinforcements with Grad multiple-launch rocket systems, artillery and tanks.

The video purporting to show Ukrainian forces in control of a gas measuring facility run by Russian energy giant Gazprom in the town of Sudzha in the Kursk region was Ukraine’s first pictorial acknowledgement of its troops’ advance.

“The town is controlled by the armed forces of Ukraine, the town is calm, all buildings are intact,” a soldier in the video said, adding that the “strategic Gazprom facility” was under the control of a Ukrainian battalion.

Reuters could not verify the video, and the Ukrainian military’s general staff have not commented.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has maintained a strict silence on the operation, though he dropped some clear hints last week without referring to Kursk.

Praising his army’s ability “to surprise” in his nightly video address, he thanked army units who had taken Russian servicemen prisoner to be used in later negotiations.

“This is extremely important and has been particularly effective over the past three days,” he said.

Ben Barry, land warfare analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that while Ukraine’s wider strategic goals were unclear, it had exposed Russian shortcomings and overturned the conventional wisdom that neither side could advance without heavy losses.

“They clearly have achieved a degree of surprise which suggests that Russia’s ability to do intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance is inadequate,” he said in a phone interview.

The United States announced a new $US125 million ($190.2 million) package of aid for Ukraine, including Stinger missiles, artillery ammunition, and anti-armour systems. Zelensky expressed thanks, saying the equipment was “vital for our forces to counter Russian assaults”.

Advance into Russia

Russia’s Defence Ministry released its own video, which it said showed a drone destroying a Ukrainian tank and howitzer near Sudzha. Reuters was able to verify the location.

The ministry said that in the previous 24 hours, Russian troops, air strikes, and artillery had “suppressed raid attempts by enemy units deep into Russian territory”.

It said that Ukraine had lost some 945 soldiers and 102 armoured vehicles during the fighting near Kursk, without mentioning any Russian losses.

On Wednesday, Russian military chief Valery Gerasimov said up to 1000 Ukrainian troops were participating in the attack.

Reuters could not verify the battlefield accounts. The Institute for the Study of War said geolocated footage and Russian accounts indicated that Ukrainian forces had “continued rapid advances”.

There were unconfirmed reports from Russian sources of Ukrainians pushing as deep as 35 kilometres into Russian territory.

Rybar, a Russian military blog, said Ukrainian units had entered village after village and ambushed arriving Russian reinforcements.

Meanwhile, a Russian air-launched missile slammed into a Ukrainian shopping mall in the middle of the day, killing at least 14 people and wounding 44 others, Ukrainian authorities said.

The mall in Kostiantynivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, was located in the town’s residential area. After the strike, thick black smoke rose above the area.

“This is another targeted attack on a crowded place, another act of terror by the Russians,” Donetsk regional head Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.