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“We are making good progress,” says Volodymyr Zelensky
“We continue to make progress in the Kursk region. Since the beginning of the day, we have traveled between one and two kilometers in different areas,” Volodymyr Zelensky said this morning on Telegram and 100 captured Russian soldiers” on Wednesday. And let me add at the beginning of the evening: “we are making good progress in the Kursk region, we are achieving our strategic goal.”
Morning report of Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on the situation in all major directions, especially in the Toretsk and Pokrovsk areas, as well as the operation in the Kursk region.
We do not forget our eastern front even for a second. I trained the… pic.twitter.com/5RE6EgLFn8
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Volodymyr Zelenskyy (@ZelenskyyUa) August 14, 2024
Kiev wants to create a buffer zone in the Kursk region
“The creation of a buffer zone in the Kursk region is a measure to protect our border communities from daily hostile shelling,” Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said on Telegram.
Ukraine announces the opening of humanitarian corridors in Russia
Ukraine announced on Wednesday that it was opening humanitarian corridors in the Russian border region of Kursk, in the eighth day of an unprecedented offensive by Kiev's forces into Russian territory that has sent tens of thousands of civilians fleeing. “Our military forces intend (…) to open humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians, both to Russia and to Ukraine,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchouk said on Telegram.
The Ukrainian army continues its advance on Russian soil
The Ukrainian army is continuing its advance in the Russian border region of Kursk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday, the eighth day of an unprecedented offensive that Moscow has vowed to halt.
“We continue to advance in the Kursk region, since the beginning of the day we have covered one to two kilometers in different areas,” Zelensky said on Telegram, while reporting “more than 100 captured Russian soldiers” on Wednesday.
The Russian military says it has “repelled” Ukrainian attacks deep in the Kursk region
The Russian military again claimed on Wednesday that it had “repulsed” Ukrainian attacks aimed at “deep penetration” into the Kursk border region, in the eighth day of an unprecedented advance by Kiev's forces into Russian territory.
Russian forces, supported by aviation, drones and artillery, “thwarted the attempts of enemy mobile groups on armored vehicles to penetrate deep into Russian territory” and inflicted heavy losses on Ukrainians, the Russian military said in a press release.
Confidential Russian documents identify several European sites as potential targets in the event of a conflict with NATO
Secret Russian military files released to the Financial Times earlier this year continue to reveal Vladimir Putin's strategic ambitions for Europe and Asia, well beyond the war against Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers raise their flag instead of Russia's
Soldiers from the 225th Ukrainian Assault Battalion have released a video showing them removing the Russian flag from the facade of an administrative building in the Kursk region and raising a Ukrainian flag instead.
Did the evacuated residents of Kursk move to the occupied territories of Ukraine?
Following the Ukrainian offensive in Russia that began on August 6, 121,000 Russian citizens could find refuge in the Zaporizhia region, annexed by Moscow in the fall of 2022.
The French coast, threatened by the Russian strikes?
According to confidential documents disclosed by Financial Times Russia would prepare, in the event of a conflict with the West, to hit targets in Europe. These documents, dating from before the invasion of Ukraine, were released between 2008 and 2014 and were intended for high-ranking members of the Russian navy. These would include maps showing 32 different targets on the continent or aimed at NATO members for the Russian naval fleet, including some off the French coast and at a UK shipyard.
“The Russians cannot let this offensive develop”
In a few days of incursion into Russian territory, the Ukrainian armed forces inflicted a stinging setback on Moscow, temporarily regaining the “initiative” after the failure of the June 2023 counteroffensive, analyzes Philippe Gros, a specialist in military affairs and senior researcher. at the Strategic Research Foundation (FRS).
Behind its incursion into Russian territory, how Kiev is trying to change the conflict
Since August 6, the Ukrainian army has been conducting a major incursion into Russia's Kursk region involving thousands of soldiers. After months of withdrawal from Moscow, this operation could mark a turning point in the conflict.
Unexpected setback for Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin, for whom the Ukrainian attack is an unexpected setback, has ordered his army to “drive the enemy” out of Russia, making sure that he sees behind this operation the hand of “the West (which) is at war against Us”.
120,000 Russians flee and 12 Russian civilians killed
The Ukrainian offensive has already caused more than 120,000 residents to flee, according to Russian authorities. So far, at least 12 civilians have been killed and over a hundred injured.
“Ukraine does not want to annex territories from the Kursk region”
The spokesman of the Ukrainian diplomacy, Georgii Tykhy, considered the operations in Kiev “absolutely legitimate” in the face of the Russian occupation of almost 20% of the country. “Ukraine does not want to annex territories from the Kursk region,” he assured. This offensive, he promised, will stop if Moscow accepts the conditions set by Ukraine: “The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace (…), the sooner the incursions of the defense forces will stop the Ukrainians on Russian territory.
The Ukrainian army continues to penetrate into Russian territory
Since August 6, Ukraine has been leading a major offensive in the Kursk region, adjacent to Voronezh, claiming the conquest of over 1,000 km2 of Russian territory. The Russian authorities, for their part, acknowledged on Monday the loss of 28 localities and Ukrainian territorial gains stretching over an area 40 kilometers wide and 12 kilometers deep.
According to calculations made by AFP on Tuesday from Russian sources provided by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American think tank, Ukrainian troops have advanced 800 km2 in the Kursk region. For comparison, Russia has advanced 1,360 km2 on Ukrainian territory since January 1, 2024, according to the AFP analysis.
Ukrainian drone attacks in Kursk and Belgorod regions
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region, reported Ukrainian drone strikes against two villages in the region, Chebekino and Ustinka. Authorities in Kursk, Voronezh and Bryansk regions also reported that drones coming from Ukraine were shot down by Russian air defenses overnight.
Russia: A state of emergency has been declared in the Belgorod region, bombed by Ukraine
The governor of Russia's Belgorod region declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, citing an “extremely difficult” situation due to shelling by Ukrainian forces in this border area: “The situation in our Belgorod region remains extremely difficult and tense due to shelling by Ukrainian armed forces , houses were destroyed, civilians died and were injured,” Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.
“To ensure increased protection of the population and to provide additional support to the victims, a state of emergency will be established at the regional level” from Wednesday, he added.