Ukraine’s General Staff claims that 1,140 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the past 24 hours as fighting rages in western Russia, following the largest Ukrainian incursion since the start of the war.
In a video address to the country on Wednesday night, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s President, made no reference to the apparent offensive but spoke about the need to apply pressure on Russia.
“It is important to continue destroying the enemy—precisely as our soldiers know how, steadfastly, as this supports the defense of our country, and effectively, as it yields results,” he said.
“The more pressure we put on Russia—the aggressor that brought war to Ukraine—the closer peace will be.”
In the first official Ukrainian comment on the operation presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said that Russia’s aggression is the main reason for the attack.I am grateful to all our warriors, every combat unit, for their bravery and strength – to everyone who truly serves Ukraine. This includes the front lines in the Pokrovsk, Toretsk, and Lyman directions, the Kharkiv region, and everywhere our defense against the occupier's… pic.twitter.com/Lsgu09IKiW
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 7, 2024
“Shelling, military actions, forced evacuations, and destruction of normal life forms, including within Rf’s own territories like Kursk and Belgorod regions, is solely Russia’s unequivocal aggression,” he wrote on X.
Podolyak added: “The architect behind the ‘self-destruction of Russia’ concept is well-known – none other than the entity Putin himself.”
Following an emergency meeting of Russia's national security council, Vladimir Putin denounced the Ukrainian operation as a major provocation.The root cause of any escalation, shelling, military actions, forced evacuations, and destruction of normal life forms, including within Rf’s own territories like #Kursk and Belgorod regions, is solely Russia’s unequivocal aggression. This includes attempts to seize foreign…
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) August 8, 2024
The country’s National Guard has also increased security around the Kursk nuclear power plant, while the Health Ministry said that 31 civilians, including six children, were wounded in the fighting, and five civilians were killed.
In Washington, officials said that Ukraine’s operations did not violate U.S. policy regarding the use of American-supplied weapons.More captured Russians in Russia's Kursk region. pic.twitter.com/YXBbrQPLMH
— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) August 8, 2024
New front?
Russian officials reported that Ukrainian forces launched a substantial attack near the border town of Sudzha near the Ukrainian border. The Russian military claimed to have halted the advance of up to 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers with airstrikes, missiles, and artillery fire.
But the situation in the Kursk region has been portrayed by Russian military bloggers as more severe than official reports suggest, with some indicating that Ukraine might be opening a new front.
These reports also hint at potential Ukrainian advances toward the Kursk nuclear plant. Both Kyiv and Moscow claim they do not target civilians, although unverified footage of shelled houses circulates on Russian Telegram channels.
