KYIV: Russia on Sunday acknowledged Ukrainian forces had pierced deep into the Kursk border region in an offensive that a top official in Ukraine said was aimed to “destabilise” Russia and “stretch” its armed forces.

Kyiv has deployed thousands of troops to the surprise operation, a Ukrainian security official said, seizing the battlefield initiative after months of slow Russ­ian advances across the east.

“We are on the offensive. The aim is to stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilise the situation in Russia as they are unable to protect their own border,” the security official said.

The shock assault, now in its sixth day, appeared to catch the Kremlin off guard, with Moscow’s army rushing in reserve troops, tanks, aviation, artillery and drones in a bid to quash the incursion. But it’s army on Sunday appeared to concede that Ukraine had been able to penetrate its territory by up to 30 kilometres in places.

In a daily briefing on the situation in the western Kursk region, the defence ministry said it had “foiled attempts” by Ukraine’s forces to “break through deep into Russian territory” using armoured vehicles. But it said some of those forces were located near the villages of Tolpino and Obshchy Kolodez, which are around 25 km and 30 km from the Russia-Ukraine border.

The Ukrainian official also said Russia’s claims that Kyiv had deployed 1,000 troops were a serious underestimation. “It is a lot more...Thousands,” they said.

After days of official silence, President Volody­myr Zelensky acknowledged the offensive for the first time in his nightly address on Saturday, saying that Kyiv was “pushing the war into the aggressor’s territory”.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2024