https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/08/europe/russia-ukrainian-incursion-intl/index....





Jim Sciutto
By Daria Tarasova, Jim Sciutto, Allegra Goodwin, Tim Lister, and Ivana Kottasová, CNN
7 minute read
Updated 10:44 PM EDT, Thu August 8, 2024


A building burns in the Russian town of Sudzha following Ukraine's incursion into Kursk region, August 7, 2024.
Mic Izvestia/IZ.RU/Reuters




https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/09/europe/russia-lipetsk-kursk-ukraine-zelensky-...



By Christian Edwards, Olga Voitovych, Victoria Butenko and Alex Stambaugh, CNN
3 minute read
Updated 7:16 AM EDT, Fri August 9, 2024

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4y3529v7vo





1 day ago


Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was conceived in the Kremlin as a short, sharp military operation.

The expectation was that it would take a matter of days, a few weeks maximum, for Russia to establish control over its neighbour.

That was nearly two-and-a-half years ago.

The war in Ukraine rages on. It has not gone at all as Moscow had intended.

But here’s the thing. Over the last 29 months, so often we’ve heard senior Russian officials claiming that the operation is going “according to plan.”

President Vladimir Putin last said that in May, despite everything that had happened in the preceding two years: the heavy Russian casualties on the battlefield, the destruction of multiple Russian warships in the Black Sea, drone attacks deep inside Russia (even on the Kremlin itself), the shelling of Russian towns and villages near the Ukrainian border, the mutiny by Wagner mercenary fighters who had marched on Moscow.

Now there is a new addition to the list: this week’s cross-border Ukrainian assault on Russia’s Kursk region.

First, a disclaimer: it’s difficult to know exactly what is happening right now in the Sudzha district of Kursk region. It is unclear how many Ukrainian troops are there, how much territory they have seized and what their final objective may be.

Today’s edition of the Russian broadsheet Nezavisimaya Gazeta declared: “Events on the Kursk front are shrouded in the notorious fog of war.”

But even in fog, some things are clear.

It’s evident that what is unfolding in Kursk region is further evidence that Russia’s war in Ukraine has not gone "according to plan". Events appear to have taken Russia’s political and military leadership completely by surprise.

Don’t expect Moscow to admit that.

More likely, Russian officials will use the Ukrainian assault to try to rally the Russian public around the government and bolster the official Kremlin narrative that (a) in this conflict Russia is not the aggressor, and (b) Russia is a besieged fortress surrounded by enemies who are plotting to invade and destroy it.

I agree that if this is not the result of a cunning plan by the Russian general Staff or the result of betrayal, then this is a major mistake and a stupid underestimation of the enemy by the leadership of the Russian armed forces.

However, now let's read what the Russian Ministry of Defense says about this.


Statement by Russian Defence Ministry

09.08.2024 (11:40)

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are repelling an attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine against the territory of the Russian Federation.

Over the past 24 hours, units of the Sever (North) Group of Forces and arrived reserves, Army Aviation, and artillery fire foiled enemy attempts to launch raid operations tot the depth of the Russian territory in Kursk direction.

Russian troops launched fire on AFU manpower and hardware close to Daryino, Gogolevka, Melovoy, and Nikolsky, and on the western outskirts of Sudzha.

Five Stryker armoured personnel carriers close to Yuzhnoye and an AFU military convoy made up of one tank, four armoured personnel carriers, and one Kozak armoured fighting vehicle close to Martynovka were eliminated.

Moreover, air and missile strikes hit enemy reserves in Sumy region.

Over the past 24 hours, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost over 280 troops and 27 armoured vehicles, to include four tanks, five armoured personnel carries, 18 armoured fighting vehicles, six motor vehicles, one 155-mm M777 howitzer, one 155-mm Krab self-propelled artillery system, and one D-20 gun.

Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the enemy has lost up to 945 troops and 102 armoured vehicles, including 12 tanks, 17 armoured personnel carriers, six infantry fighting vehicles, 67 armoured fighting vehicles, 12 motor vehicles, two Buk M1 self-propelled artillery systems, and three field artillery guns.

The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.

Bobby. wrote on Aug 9^th, 2024 at 11:34pm:


Dear Bobby.

Thank you for your amazing advice.

But I'm used to analyzing information coming from all sides.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr7rn98l8kjo



1 hour ago

Ukrainian troops remained in Russia’s western Kursk region on Friday night, as its surprise cross-border offensive into Russia came to the end of a fourth day.

The Russian defence ministry said it was “continuing to repel” Ukraine’s military, which it claimed had lost more than 280 personnel in the past 24 hours - a figure that has not been independently verified.

Reports suggest that Ukrainian troops are operating more than 10km (six miles) inside Russia - the deepest cross-border advance by Kyiv since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine has not openly admitted the incursion, but President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Moscow must "feel" the consequences for its invasion.

Fighting in Kursk has edged gradually closer to a nuclear power plant, prompting the UN nuclear agency to release a statement urging the two sides to “exercise maximum restraint”.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi appealed to all sides to take measures “to avoid a nuclear accident with the potential for serious radiological consequences”.


Some residents of the Kursk region were evacuated by authorities, with a group pulling into Moscow’s central train station on Friday. One unnamed resident told AFP news agency: "It's terrible. They are bombing.”

Overnight, Ukraine's military said it had struck a military airfield deep inside Russia, destroying a warehouse containing hundreds of glide bombs.

The targeting of the Lipetsk air base, more than 350km (217 miles) from Ukraine's border, is the kind of operation Kyiv has been wanting to do for some time.

The weaponry it managed to destroy in the attack is the very kind Russia has used to terrorise Ukrainian towns, cities and military positions for most of its invasion.

The military's statement also said the airfield was known for housing Russia's Su-34, Su-35 and MiG-31 war planes.

Russian authorities nearby said a state of emergency was in place in the area, confirming what they described as “detonations” at an "energy infrastructure facility". Residents of four nearby villages were being evacuated.

Hours after Ukraine’s strikes, Russia responded by striking a shopping centre in the Ukrainian town of Kostyantynivka, close to the frontline in the eastern Donetsk region, killing at least 14 people and injuring 43, Ukrainian officials say.
Residential buildings, shops and more than a dozen cars were also damaged in the attack.

tallowood wrote on Aug 10^th, 2024 at 9:08am:


We'll see:
 
Aug 10, 2024

How the Russians Missed It and What Happens Next

Kursk is on fire.
This video explains how Russia didn't see the attack coming and
reviews Russia's alternative courses of action (COAs).

https://www.yahoo.com/news/battles-rage-russia-kremlin-struggles-141252603.html




” Frank Ledwidge, a former British military intelligence officer and senior lecturer in war studies at England’s University of Portsmouth, told NBC News. “That’s very significant.”

Russia’s defense ministry has boasted that Ukrainian troops had been stopped, but has yet to report pushing Kyiv’s forces back across the border.

Military command said that some 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers, backed by tanks and military vehicles, were involved in the initial attack. Federal authorities have declared a state of national emergency and thousands of people have been evacuated from Kursk amid reports of civilian casualties and destruction.

On Friday, the ministry said it was sending new reinforcements to the area. It shared videos showing columns of heavy armor headed toward Kursk, and Russian jets bombing what it said were Ukrainian troops and equipment on Russian territory.

'According to Russia, Ukrainian advances in the border area were stopped about 500 kilometres southwest of Moscow. However, military bloggers and open-source data indicate that Ukrainian troops have made gains in several areas in Kursk.
The fighting in Kursk has received considerable attention by Russian media. Much of the coverage concerned the humanitarian situation – children being taken to shelters on buses as well as people from other Russian regions gathered food, diapers and other supplies to be sent to Kursk.'

Food and diapers.  Uncle Vlad sent the boys to get Zelensky without food or fuel for tanks.  He got elected by killing his opponent so he must be the best available.