Moscow is reportedly withdrawing part of its military forces from Ukraine following kyiv’s surprise incursion into Russia, the largest foreign military offensive on Russian soil since World War II.
U.S. officials confirmed the withdrawal The Wall Street JournalAlthough it is unclear exactly how many Russian troops were involved. Ukraine also sent tanks and armored vehicles to support its own troops that crossed the border last week into Russia’s Kursk region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to quickly expel Ukrainian forces that crossed into Russian territory on August 6, but kyiv says its troops are continuing to advance. Ukrainian fighters have already advanced at least 30 kilometers into Russia, and the Ukrainian military’s commander-in-chief has boasted of capturing 74 Russian towns and villages.
“We are advancing in the Kursk region, by one to two kilometers in different areas since the beginning of the day,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a post on X on Wednesday. “We have captured more than 100 Russian servicemen during this time. I am grateful to all those who participated; this will speed up the return of our men and women home.”
Putin has called the operation a major provocation. On Monday, he said Ukraine launched the assault “with the help of its Western masters” to strengthen its negotiating position ahead of possible peace talks, according to Reuters. The White House denied receiving advance warning of the attack last week and was not involved in the offensive.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhi told reporters on Tuesday that the operation was not aimed at occupying Russian territory. “The purpose of the operation is to save the lives of our people and protect the territory of Ukraine from Russian attacks,” he said, adding that the sooner Moscow agrees to “restore a just peace,” the sooner Ukrainian raids will stop.
Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is now facing its own crisis in its border regions. Nearly 200,000 people have fled their homes in parts of the Kursk region, while authorities in the neighboring Belgorod region declared a state of emergency on Wednesday.
“The situation in our Belgorod region remains extremely difficult and tense due to the shelling of the Ukrainian armed forces. Houses have been destroyed, civilians have died and been injured,” Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, said on Telegram.
Russia also said it shot down 117 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly in the Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod regions. Missiles were also intercepted.
In his statement Wednesday, Zelensky said kyiv “does not forget for a second about our eastern front” and asked the commander-in-chief to reinforce the line with more equipment and supplies.
