Ukrainian forces launched a counterattack in the western border region of Kursk, warning that Russia was “getting what it deserves.”
Although it is not transparent to what extent Ukraine had progressed in the region, the attack arrives at a critical moment in the clash of almost 3 years with the two parties that seek to stimulate their negotiations before the return of the president of US president Donald Trump to the blank space January 20.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday he would send back allies to spice up his country’s air defenses at an assembly of the Ramstein group in Germany this week.
He said that dozens of spouse countries will participate in the meeting, “including those that can give life to our functions not only to protect missiles, but also opposed to guided bombs and Russian aviation. “
“We will talk about them with them and continue to convince them,” Zelenskyy said in his night speech on Saturday. “The task remains unchanged: our air defense. “
U. S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin will attend the meeting, who will originally take a position in October and will be held through President Biden. It was postponed because Hurricane Milton beat the United States.
In the few weeks beyond power, Biden’s management has been straining to send as much military aid as imaginable to Ukraine.
Ukraine used two tanks, a dozen armored cars and a demolition unit in Sunday’s assault, which is directed towards the town of Berdin, about nine miles northeast of Sudzha, said the Russian Defense Ministry.
“The operation to destroy Ukrainian formations continues,” he said.
The pro-Kremlin army bloggers admitted that the Russian army had suffered pressure, said Moscow undulating.
“The main occasions of the next offensive through the Ukrainian army are obviously still before us,” Rybar, the influential pro-Russian telegram, said.
Ukrainian officials have made few major points in the new offensive, with one eminent lawmaker urging silence.
“I can’t understand why it is necessary to officially report on the Kursk region. Maybe better to do it afterwards when the operation is over?” Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko said.
Other officials expressed their glee at the fightback, which comes almost three years since Moscow launched its full-scale military assault on Ukraine.
“Russia is getting what it deserves,” Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said.
The head of Ukraine’s Counter-Information Center, Andriy Kovalenko, said on Telegram that the defense forces “worked” in the region, developing.
“In the Kursk region, the Russians are very worried because they were attacked from several directions, and it was a surprise for them,” he said.
Kyiv seized dozens of villages in the Kursk region shortly after its incursion started on August 6, 2024, but its advances stalled after Moscow rushed reinforcements to the area, including thousands of troops from its ally North Korea.
A Ukrainian military source told AFP last November that Kyiv still controlled around 300 square squares of the Russian border region.
But Kyiv has so far been unable to halt Moscow’s advances in Ukraine, which were seven times higher in 2024 than the year prior, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged normal attacks since the beginning of the year.
Russia said Sunday it downed dozens of Ukrainian drones overnight in a barrage that damaged homes and triggered air alerts, while Kyiv said Moscow fired 103 drones into its territory.
Four Russian airports suspended traffic early on Sunday for “safety” reasons, forcing at least 8 planes to divert course, said Rosaviatsia, a spokeswoman for the Civil Aviation Authority.