Ukraine war: Russia’s Putin says Kyiv carrying out ‘provocation’ in border region
- This is one of the largest incursions by Ukrainian forces into Russia since the Ukraine war began in February 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region was a major provocation.
“The Kyiv regime has launched another major provocation,” Putin told members of the Russian government about the Kursk attack.
Putin said Ukrainian forces were conducting the “indiscriminate shelling of civilian” targets in the Kursk region.
This is one of the largest incursions by Kyiv’s forces into Russia since the Ukraine war began in February 2022.
Russia has advanced this year after the failure of Ukraine’s 2023 counteroffensive to achieve any major gains, and has taken 420 square kilometres (162 square miles) of territory from Ukrainian forces since June 14, Sergei Shoigu, head of Russia’s security council, has said.
Ukraine struck back on Tuesday – and the battles continued through the night into Wednesday as Ukrainian forces pushed to the northwest of the border town of Sudzha, 530km (330 miles) southwest of Moscow, Russia’s defence ministry said.