Russia-Ukraine war | Kursk | Belgorod | A week after the surprise invasion of Kursk, Ukrainians enter Russian territory; Kiev troops open a new front in Belgorod Vladimir Putin | Vladimir Zelensky | World

“Currently, the situation in the region is complicated. There are 28 enemy-controlled locations, with a depth of 12 kilometers and a width of 40 kilometers in the Kursk region.”, The governor of Kursk Oblast said on Monday Alexey Smirnovduring a telematics meeting with the President Putinand other authorities in the country.

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he Governor He pointed out that in those 28 locations About 2,000 people live there, and he said “the fate they have suffered” is unclear.

Apart from, Smirnov Reports say 12 civilians have died since last Tuesday. Kursk 121 people were injured, including 10 children.

Smirnov He also gave the numbers evacuation: 121,000 people are expected to leave their homes within a week, and another 60,000 will leave their homes.

“The problem is that there is no clear front line and no idea where the combat troops are. Ukrainian Armed Forces)”explain SmirnovHe insisted that “it is very important to know where the enemy is,” EFE reported.

He said it would be difficult to track all Ukrainian forces patrolling the area and create disruptions. Smirnovnoting that some people were using fake Russian ID cards.

On Monday, the region’s governor Belgorodadjacent to KurskIt also announced the evacuation of personnel from an area near the Ukrainian border and described the situation as “alarming,” but did not provide further details, the Associated Press reported.

In itself, Putin reportedly ordered Russian troops to ‘expel’ Ukrainian forcesThe president said one of Kiev’s goals was to stop a Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine, particularly in Luhansk and Donetsk.

Another aim is to improve Kiev’s position in a number of areas, he added. Final peace talks.

“But how can we negotiate with those who indiscriminately attack civilians? (…) What can you talk to them about?” he said.

Putin assured that Russia will respond firmly to US actions Ukraine You will achieve all the goals you set for yourself.

The Russian president said the number of volunteers joining the army had increased as a result of the attacks. Russian troops will continue their offensive in eastern Ukraine.

August 6, Ukraine A surprising large-scale action was launched Kursktwo and a half years after the Russian invasion began.

Ukrainian troops have been advancing rapidly towards the town of Souza, about 10 kilometers from the border, and according to recent reports, they still control the western part of the town, where a key gas transfer station is located.

The Ukrainian operation was carried out in strict secrecy and its objectives have not been revealed.

Just on Saturday, Ukraine’s president Vladimir Zelenskyspoke of the offensive and confirmed that his country’s troops had entered Russia“Ukraine is showing that it really knows how to restore justice and ensure that the required pressure is exerted: on the aggressor.‘ he said in a speech.

on Monday, Zelensky He said the invasion was “a disaster of this war” for Moscow.

“We can see what happens Russia Under Putin: Disaster 24 years ago Kurska symbolic start to his government,” he said Zelenskyreferring to the shipwreck of the Russian submarine of the same name, in which 118 crew members died.

“Now his end was clear. So was Kursk. the disaster of this war,” Zelensky said.

Also on Monday, Ukrainian Army Commander Oleksandr Syrsky said in a video posted on social networks Zelensky Its troops have occupied about 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory and are maintaining the offensive.

The Kursk region’s border with Ukraine is 245 kilometers (150 miles) long.

Defeat of the Russian Army

Internationalist Enrique BanusThe director of the European Institute of the University of Piura said The Ukrainian operation is not a counterattack Like the one he launched last June, it was a complete flop.

“It was a different tactic, it was an element of surprise, it involved going into well-studied enemy territory, and they found it to be sizable.” UnprotectedIn fact, What the Russians did was not to contain the offensive, but to evacuate the population“Banus said in the conversation Ministry of Commerce.

“This was unexpected, the Ukrainians were losing the initiative, they were losing territory, they were under strong pressure, and suddenly we found ourselves with this maneuver, which they kept secret, but they had already admitted that they sought to destabilize Russia. They turned the tide”Banus pointed out.

For internationalists, Ukraine operations expose Russian military incompetence. “They are bringing disaster upon themselves because they cannot organize themselves to retreat into their own territory.”

“It’s shocking that Russian intelligence found nothing. The Ukrainian forces were small but significant, and the Russian army was unable to push them back; by Monday they had captured 28 towns.”Banus said.

The image left by the raid PutinBanus said. “In the past, there has been a lot of analysis about the slow and complex decision-making of the Russian military due to its extreme verticality. They have very vertical old structures, so decisions are slow because they are concentrated in very few people, and flexibility is not one of its characteristics. They seem to have corrected some things, but they are clearly continuing with their very outdated structure.”

Banus said it would be a complete shame if Russia accepted this reality, kept Ukrainian troops on its territory and determined that this was the new status quo.

“Another alternative Russia The response to this situation is to ease the offensive on other fronts and to conquer territory on these fronts in a limited way; this is a change, a turning point. It was the complete failure of the expected Ukrainian counterattack last year that led Russia to advance again. Behind this is also the decision of Western countries that their weapons can be used on Russian territory. “”, Banus stressed.

What will Russia do?

Since the war broke out in February 2022, Russia has suffered invasions of its territory before, but the events in Kursk were the country’s largest attack since World War II.It was also the first time Ukrainian troops led a raid, rather than pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters, who had conducted a similar, short-lived operation not long ago.

According to the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrainians have entered Russian territory “Challenging operational and strategic assumptionsof the Kremlin’s troops”.

“This operation has enabled Ukrainian forces to seize the battlefield initiative, at least temporarily, in one frontline area and to counter Russian initiative in the entire theater of operations,” ISW said.

ISW also said that the Ukrainian operation forced the Kremlin and the Russian military command to decide whether to consider the 1,000-kilometer international border with northeastern Ukraine as a legitimate front that Russia must defend, rather than an inactive zone of a war zone, as has been the case since 2022.

“The Russian forces hastily assembled and dispersed in response to the Ukrainian incursion at Kursk are likely composed of forces below their ultimate doctrinal strength and unprepared to establish the joint command and control structures needed to coordinate operations,” ISW said.