Ukraine reports large gains in Russia's Kursk region

Ukrainian tanks approach border with Russia's Kursk region

"This is the first time Russia has had war on its territory since World War II"

(Image credit: Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images)

published 13 August 2024

What happened

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his top commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that Ukrainian forces now control about 390 square miles of Russian territory, after Kyiv's surprise Aug. 6 attack on the Kursk region. Vladimir Putin demanded that Russian security forces crush Ukraine's cross-border incursion as Kursk's acting governor acknowledged Ukrainian forces have captured 28 settlements.

Who said what

Invading Kursk was "purely a security issue for Ukraine," Zelenskyy said. "Russia must be forced to make peace if Putin wants to fight so badly." Putin said Ukraine's incursion would fail to "improve its negotiating position in the future" or draw Russian troops from their grinding gains in eastern Ukraine.

"Even as Putin spoke, Russian officials were evacuating civilians from a second region, Belgorod," The Washington Post said, and "Russian military bloggers reported fierce fighting" in Kursk. "This is the first time Russia has had war on its territory since World War II," a Ukrainian soldier said to The Wall Street Journal. "Everybody was afraid of Russia, but we are showing there is nothing to be afraid of."

What next?

Kyiv's "lightning" gains have embarrassed Putin, "shocked Russia and lifted spirits in Ukraine," the Journal said. But the operation's goals remain unclear and Ukraine appears to be pulling troops from its "already threadbare units on the eastern front."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.