Ukrainian soldiers advance further in Kursk, Russia calls it terrorism

Troops pushed a few miles deeper into the southwestern Russian region of Kursk on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Kyiv’s forces captured 100 Russian soldiers and wrested control of more than 70 communities from Russia, he said. In a separate statement, he added that Ukrainian forces followed international conventions and humanitarian law during their incursion into Kursk. Ukrainian troops advanced into Kursk more than a week ago.

What does Russia have to say? Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday insisted the United Nations call Ukraine’s actions in Kursk terrorism. Russian state-run news outlet RT ran a report saying Ukraine’s attack on Kursk came after the Kremlin offered Ukraine what it considered a generous peace agreement to settle the conflict between the two countries. The Russian border region of Belgorod, which borders Kursk, on Wednesday declared an emergency after attacks by Ukrainian troops.

As for developments on the battlefield, Moscow said it halted all Ukrainian attempts to advance further into Russian territory on Wednesday, the Kremlin-run news outlet TASS reported. Ukraine has lost more than 2,300 soldiers and well over three hundred military vehicles in Kursk since Kyiv began its incursion, TASS claimed.

Dig deeper: Read my report from earlier this week about how Ukraine’s tenacity in Kursk has alarmed Russian President Vladimir Putin.