By Jon Jackson, Isabel van Brugen, and Yevgeny Kuklychev
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Ukraine launched a surprise counteroffensive inside Russia, putting Vladimir Putin's troops on the back foot on their home soil.
Clashes erupted on Tuesday in the region bordering Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region. While anti-Kremlin militia groups have previously carried out surprise raids into the border region of Belgorod, this incursion increasingly appears to be on a different scale, reportedly involving multiple Ukrainian units and armored convoys.
While Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday that the attack was being neutralised, intense fighting continues in multiple locations. Meanwhile, Russian war analysts and the "z-blogger" community have grown increasingly frustrated with and furious at Putin military's response to the attack.
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- Ukraine troops reportedly control up to 130 square miles of Russian territory as of Thursday morning.
- On Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin convened an emergency security council meeting to address the threat.
- Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former president, vowed to respond "mercilessly" and to penetrate further into Ukrainian territory following.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised his military's ability to "surprise" and "achieve results" without directly referencing the incursion.
- Russian state media reacted with shock and outrage to the Ukrainian assault, with one pundit calling for a "nuclear strike" on Kursk to thwart Ukraine's advances.
Aug 08, 2024 at 01:09 PM EDT
Russia Closes 3 Train Stations in Kursk
Russian state-owned train operator Moscow Railway on Thursday announced the Sudzha, Korenevo and Psel stations in Kursk Oblast were "temporarily closed to passengers" amid ongoing hostilities in the region, according to the Kremlin-run news agency RIA Novosti.
Moscow Railway's press service told RIA Novosti that the closures were "to ensure traffic safety, additional inspections of the infrastructure and training for personnel are being carried out."
According to the Kyiv Independent, the company also announced that an additional train to Moscow will leave the Kursk railway "to meet the demand for passenger transportation."
Aug 08, 2024 at 12:31 PM EDT
Ukraine’s Incursion Into Kursk Likely Won’t Cross Putin’s ‘Red Lines’: Military Strategist
Sean McFate, a military strategist and U.S. Army veteran, told Newsweek that Kyiv's incursion into Russia's Kursk border region is unlikely to breach Vladimir Putin's "red lines" in the war he started.
"Until recently, the U.S. told Ukraine 'no incursions' into Russia territory. As a result, Russia parked missile launchers and artillery on their side of the border and pounded Ukrainian targets with impunity," said McFate, who is also a professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School and Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.
Ever since the start of Putin's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian officials have referred to crossing so-called "red lines" that would result in an escalation of the conflict. The Kremlin has even gone as far as suggesting nuclear action would be taken if there was an existential threat to Russia.
Before the incursion into Kursk, the recent arrival of F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine were cited by some as a possible crossing of Putin's "red lines."
"Some worry this and the new F-16s might trigger Putin's 'red lines' for WWIII," McFate said. "It's an important concern, but the West has been pushing against his lines since the war began."
He added, "I don't think this will be the moment, because the Ukrainians have been secretly hitting those Russian artillery all spring."
Aug 08, 2024 at 12:02 PM EDT
Ukraine’s Military ‘Knows How to Surprise’ and ‘Achieve Results,’ Zelensky Says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised his armed forces on Thursday for its ability to "surprise" its adversaries, though he made no direct reference to his military's incursion into Kursk.
"Everyone can see that the Ukrainian army knows how to surprise. And knows how to achieve results," Zelensky said at an event that showcased a new digital app for the military, according to the independent Russian news outlet Meduza.
He continued, "This is demonstrated by the battlefield, where our soldiers not only withstood the overwhelming force of the occupiers but also are destroying it in the way necessary to protect Ukraine—our state and independence."
Aug 08, 2024 at 11:48 AM EDT
Putin Said Russia Will Give $115 to Displaced Kursk Residents
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced that residents of Kursk who have been forced to evacuate their homes due to the incursion will be given a one-time payment of 10,000 rubles ($115), CNN reported.
According to the Kyiv Independent, Putin shared the news during a video conference with Alexey Smirnov, the acting governor of Kursk Oblast.
The Russian leader reportedly told Smirnov that the payments would be for "citizens who need it," and he added that "other damage will also need to be assessed."
Aug 08, 2024 at 11:34 AM EDT
Ukraine Could Be Aiming to Turn Off Russian Gas Deliveries: Report
The Washington Post on Thursday cited a Zelensky adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity as saying Ukraine currently controls a gas metering station approximately five meters inside Russia. Newsweek could not independently verify this.
The newspaper added that there is talk that Ukraine could be seeking to disrupt Russia's delivery of gas.
"Some analysts speculated that Kyiv's goal could be to turn off all Russian gas deliveries to Europe as a leveraging point," the Post wrote. "On Thursday, gas was still flowing through Sudzha, the last operational shipping point for a pipeline that carries Russian natural gas to Europe via Ukraine. Ukraine earns lucrative transit fees but has expressed a desire to cut off Russia's remaining energy business in Europe."
The Post also noted that the U.S. has not condemned Kyiv for the incursion into Kursk.
Aug 08, 2024 at 11:14 AM EDT
Ukraine Deploying Aviation in Kursk? Helicopter Video Sparks Speculation
Videos circulating on Thursday appeared to show a Ukrainian helicopter over Kursk, in what Russian pro-war bloggers described as the first visual confirmation of Kyiv's air force being involved in the incursion.
"Video of Ukrainian Mi-8MSB helicopters involved in the offensive on Kursk Oblast. This is the first visual confirmation of the enemy using aviation during the invasion," the Military Informant Telegram channel wrote on Thursday.
In a comment to Newsweek, US ex-vice Admiral Robert Murrett weighed in on reports of a possible role the US-supplied F-16s may play in the clashes.
"The air picture is of interest" Murrett said and while he would not describe Ukraine as having air superiority, "a reasonably good air picture across the border—the Ukrainians been successful in doing."
"The F-16s may or may not be part of that. I don't think we know yet, but they seem to have a better air defense for the territory that they've occupied so far."
Aug 08, 2024 at 10:42 AM EDT
Russian Forces ‘Weren’t Prepared’ for Scale of Ground Offensive: Retired US Navy Admiral
Retired U.S. Vice Admiral Robert Murrett told Newsweek that the swift Ukrainian incursion had been helped because the Russian forces they were up against were border guards who are largely conscripts.
"They probably weren't prepared to deal with the composition of the Ukrainian ground forces that came against them," Murrett said.
He also said it was noteworthy how close Ukrainian troops had gotten to the Kursk nuclear power station.
"I don't think they had anticipated getting quite that far," he said.
Aug 08, 2024 at 10:23 AM EDT
Russia Scrambles to Deploy Reinforcements as Kursk Clashes Escalate
Russia is scrambling to draft in reinforcements to Kursk as Ukrainian forces advance deeper into the region, according to Telegram channel Nikolaev Vanek, which has more than 2 million subscribers.
The Kremlin is working to urgently assemble 2,000 troops, transferring some from its Belgorod region which also borders Ukraine, as Kyiv's forces are reported to be nearly in full control of the city Sudzha. Russia is also gathering additional missile resources, the channel reported.
"The goal is to assemble a group of about 2,000 in the shortest possible time, to prevent [Ukraine] from gaining a foothold and to recapture what has been lost."
This follows reports earlier on Thursday that Wagner Group's mercenaries were urgently rushed to Kursk from their mission in Africa amid Kremlin's struggles to maintain control of the territory.
Aug 08, 2024 at 10:00 AM EDT
Kadyrov’s Top Commander Admits Troop Losses, Lack of Manpower
Top Russian General Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Akhmat special forces unit fighting in Russia, broke from the Kremlin line on Thursday when discussing Ukraine's Kursk incursion.
Ukrainian forces captured Russian settlements in Kursk because Moscow "had neither forces, nor means, nor resources" to stop them, said Alaudinov, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a rare admission, Alaudinov also confirmed the deaths of Russian troops in the offensive. Moscow rarely comments on its war casualties.
"There is no irreversible process, nothing supernatural happened... Yes, the guys died, that's true. Several populated areas, the enemy entered there," he said.
Aug 08, 2024 at 09:50 AM EDT
Ukraine Troops Advancing ‘6 Miles per Day’ Inside Russia, Analysts Say
Ukrainian forces are continuing their advances deeper inside Russia, according to reports by military bloggers amid conflicting accounts of the extent of Kyiv's progress in the surprise incursion.
OSINT analysis on Thursday suggested that Ukrainian forces have moved as fast as 6 miles on average per day.
"The Armed Forces of Ukraine have launched a up to 25K, or small NATO Corps sized, incursion into the Kursk Oblast that is moving between 7 & 10 km a day," Trent Telenko posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Aug 08, 2024 at 09:46 AM EDT
Clashes Reported Near Key Route Leading to Kursk Nuclear Plant
Fighting has erupted between Russian and Ukrainian forces near the village of Kromskie Byki. The settlement is some 12 miles to the town of Lgov, and control over the area would allow Ukraine's forces to easily advance to Kurchatov, where the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant is located, according to the Russian Telegram channel Military Informant and Ukraine's TruexaNews.
Some Russian military bloggers, including Russian war correspondent Alexander Sladkov, have speculated that Ukrainian forces are planning to take control of the nuclear power plant in Kurchatov. There is no evidence to suggest that Ukraine intends to capture the nuclear power plant.
Aug 08, 2024 at 09:23 AM EDT
Satellite Photos Show Russian Ammo Storage Destroyed in Kursk
Ukraine struck and destroyed an ammunition storage depot in the suburbs of Kursk days before launching its armored assault, a satellite image published by the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Russia service on Thursday showed.
Kyiv's forces struck the base of Russia's Main Missile and Artillery Directorate on July 31, according to the publication. Ukraine maintains that such facilities are legitimate military targets in the war.
Aug 08, 2024 at 09:03 AM EDT
Ukraine ‘Can’t Scare Us’: Russian Defense Official
A prominent Russian official reacted on Thursday to Ukraine's Kursk raid objectives, declaring that Ukraine "can't scare us."
Andrei Krasov, first deputy head of the defense committee in Russia's lower house of parliament, spoke after Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak suggested during a national TV broadcast that the surprise incursion would serve to boost Kyiv's position in potential future negotiations with Russia.
"The Russian side...is fulfilling the tasks set by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief [Putin]—step by step, liberating Russian lands from the Nazi plague," Krasov told Russian news outlet RTVI.
"The enemy will be defeated, and our land will be cleansed of this filth that tried to fight against the civilian population," he said of the Kursk incursion.
Aug 08, 2024 at 08:44 AM EDT
Ukraine Marched Through Russia’s $170m Border Fortifications
In roughly 24 hours, Ukraine's forces overwhelmed two major lines of fortifications in the Kursk region that took Russia over two-and-a-half years and more than $170 million to build, investigative Russian outlet Agentstvo reported.
The defense lines were jointly built by Russia's Defense Ministry and Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) after President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
Aug 08, 2024 at 08:36 AM EDT
Russia’s War Bloggers Split with Defense Ministry over Kursk Clashes
As the Kremlin continues to downplay the scale of Ukraine's advances in the Kursk region, Russian military bloggers are taking to Telegram to voice their discontent, painting a picture of a situation which Moscow is unable to control.
Contradicting a statement from Russia's Defense Ministry on Thursday afternoon, prominent pro-war channel Zapiski Veterana said that the entrance to the city of Sudzha is "under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces intelligence."
Russian forces have retreated from Sudzha across a river, said military blogger Yuriy Podolyaka.
The Russian defense ministry claimed on Thursday afternoon that Ukraine has so far lost 660 troops, 82 armored vehicles, and eight tanks in its Kursk offensive.
Aug 08, 2024 at 08:26 AM EDT
Ukraine’s Territorial Gains Inside Russia Approach 170 Square Miles
In less than three days, Ukraine has gained control of 166 square miles (430 square kilometers) of Russian territory—equivalent to the size of New Orleans—investigative Russian outlet Agentstvo reported. Newsweek could not independently verify this.
The territory Russia has lost so far in Ukraine's surprise incursion is "more than Russia gained in Ukraine over the whole of July," notes Euan MacDonald, a journalist who posts regular updates on the war in Ukraine on X (formerly Twitter).
Kyiv's forces have nearly gained full control of Sudzha in Kursk, according to the Russian Telegram channel Rybar, founded by Mikhail Zvinchuk, a former employee of Russia's Defense Ministry. The Sudzha gas measuring facility, which facilitates the flow of Russian gas to Europe, is located in the city.
Aug 08, 2024 at 08:10 AM EDT
Kursk Hit by Cyberattack
Kursk's administrative online resources and networks have come under a massive cyberattack, Russia's Ministry of Digital Development reported on Thursday, adding that the attack has been repelled.
Earlier on Thursday reports across Russia indicated that the video streaming service YouTube has become inaccessible from Russian IP addresses.
Russia has in the past toyed with the idea of a total ban on YouTube and other Western online services, and earlier this week users across Russia reported sharp declines in YouTube loading speeds.
Aug 08, 2024 at 07:55 AM EDT
Wagner Summoned to Kursk’s Aid
Mercenaries supplied by the notorious Wagner Group are allegedly being redeployed from Africa to Kursk as Russia scrambles to push back Ukrainian forces, according to reports on Thursday.
"Didn't I say there would be some good news? So here you go — Wagner Group fighters are returning to Russia," the pro-war milblogger Yegor Guzenko wrote on Telegram.
Russian outlet Mash also claimed the PMC founded by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin were heading back to the Ukraine frontlines, "just like they were in 2022", possibly in reference to "Putin chef's" infamous March on Moscow.
Wagner made the headlines last week when dozens of its mercenaries in Mali were reportedly killed in an ambush by anti-government Tuareg rebels.
Aug 08, 2024 at 07:46 AM EDT
Russian Troops in Mass Surrender: Video
Photos and videos published on pro-Ukraine channels appear to show Russian troops surrendering en masse in Kursk, with reportedly as many as 60 taken prisoner by Kyiv's forces.
The incidents took place on August 6-7 near the border with Ukraine, according to reports in Russian and Ukrainian media.
Newsweek could not immediately verify the accuracy of the claims.
Aug 08, 2024 at 07:23 AM EDT
Good morning and welcome to Newsweek’s liveblog
Ukraine's surprise incursion into Russia has continued into its third day, with Moscow declaring emergency in the Kursk region as clashes continued as far as 20 miles from the border.
Live updates have ended.
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