Ukraine Launches Incursion Into Russia’s Kursk Oblast

Russia said Wednesday that its forces were fighting off a Ukrainian ground incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast, an attack President Vladimir Putin called a “large-scale provocation.”

So far, Ukrainian officials have been quiet about the cross-border attack, which was launched from Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast.

According to RT, the Russian military estimates up to 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers with dozens of armored vehicles entered Kursk. Drone attacks were also reported, and Kursk Acting Governor Alexey Smirnov said one hit an ambulance, killing two paramedics.

In a meeting with his top officials, Putin said Ukrainian forces attacking Kursk were “firing indiscriminately from different types of weapons, including rockets, at civilian buildings, residential houses, ambulances.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the fighting in Kursk was ongoing and said it thwarted a breakthrough. The ministry said five residents of Kursk had been killed in the Ukrainian attack and claimed that it inflicted 260 casualties on the invading Ukrainian force.

Ukraine has supported cross-border raids into Russia launched by militias, including the neo-Nazi Russian Volunteer Corps, but the fighting in Kursk appears to be its biggest ground attack into Russian territory of the war.

Meanwhile, fighting continues across the frontlines, and Russian forces continue to make gains in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast. The Kursk attack could be an attempt to stretch Russia’s lines, but Ukraine has also been struggling with manpower issues and could end up losing more territory as a result.