Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country had launched an attack into Russian territory to pressure Moscow’s forces and “restore justice”, in his first acknowledgment of Kyiv’s unexpected offensive into the western region of Kursk.
On Sunday, Russian forces were in their 6th day of intense battle against Kyiv’s biggest incursion into Russian territory since the beginning of the war, which left Russia’s southwestern parts vulnerable before reinforcement arrived.
On Saturday, Russian authorities evacuated residents and imposed a sweeping security regime in 3 border regions after the attack. Military analysts said the attack caught the Kremlin off-guard. Belarus, a staunch Russian ally, sent more troops to its border with Ukraine and accused Kyiv of violating its air space.
Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address he had discussed the operation with Oleksandr Syrskyi, the top Ukrainian commander, and vowed to respond in kind after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022.
He said late on Saturday that Ukraine was proving that it could restore justice and was ensuring the exact type of pressure that was required – pressure on the aggressor.
On Sunday, Russia’s defense ministry reported it had overnight destroyed 4 Tochka-U tactical ballistic missiles and 14 Ukrainian drones over the Kursk region, and 18 drones over other Russian regions that Ukraine attacked frequently.
