Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Kiev’s forces had taken full control of the Russian town of Suzha in the Kursk region in an invasion of Russian territory.
The town is said to be the largest ever occupied by Ukraine, with a pre-war population of about 5,000. Natural gas is piped from the gas fields in Western Siberia through Suzha, across the Ukrainian border and into the Ukrainian gas system.
Zelensky said an office for the command of the Ukrainian armed forces would be set up in Suzha, but did not provide details about the office or its functions.
This claim could not be independently verified.
This came after a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian air base damaged at least two hangars and other areas, according to satellite imagery analyzed by The Associated Press on Thursday.
Images taken by Planet Labs PBC on Wednesday and analyzed by The Associated Press showed debris scattered around two hangars at the Borisoglebsk airbase that had been hit. It was not immediately clear what the hangars’ purpose was. Two of the base’s fighter jets also showed possible damage.
Meanwhile, at Savasreika airbase, images from Wednesday showed a burn mark on the tarmac, but no visible damage to fighter jets or other aircraft.
This satellite image shows a damaged fighter jet at Russia’s Borisoglebsk airbase after it was attacked by a Ukrainian drone. Planet Labs PBC/AP
Kursk Oblast acting governor Alexei Smirnov on Thursday ordered the evacuation of the Grushkovo area, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) northwest of Suzha, where heavy fighting has been taking place, as a brazen incursion into the border with Ukraine’s Kursk Oblast entered its second week.
The evacuation order suggests that Ukrainian forces are gradually advancing into the region. Officials say more than 120,000 residents of the Kursk region have already been evacuated.
Speaking at a centre hosting evacuees, Tatyana Anikeyeva described fleeing the fighting: “We were rushing to flee Suzha… We hid in the bushes. Volunteers were distributing water, food and bread to people on the move. There was constant artillery fire. The house was shaking,” she told Russian state television.
Refugees milled about, waiting in long lines for food and other supplies. One man tried to comfort his dog, saying he was too nauseous to eat himself.
Russia also declared a federal state of emergency in the Belgorod region, a change from a regional state of emergency declared a day earlier, indicating that authorities believe the worsening situation is hindering the region’s ability to deliver aid.
Residents who suffered serious health damage are eligible for payments of up to 600,000 rubles ($6,600). Those who suffered property losses are eligible for compensation of up to 150,000 rubles ($1,700), the Ministry of Emergency Situations said.
Ukrainian military commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Shirsky declared that Ukrainian forces had controlled about 390 square miles of the Kursk region, a claim that could not be independently verified. The line of contact at Kursk is fluid, allowing easy movement on both sides, unlike the stationary front in eastern Ukraine, where it took months for Russian forces to make even a small advance.
Russian military bloggers claim that the arrival of Russian reserve forces in the region has halted the Ukrainian advance, but also note that small Ukrainian mechanized units continue to probe Russian defenses.
Speaking to reporters at the UN on Wednesday, Russia’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky denied Sirushky’s claim that he had gained 1,000 square kilometres of Russian territory.
“What’s happening in Kursk is an infiltration of terrorist sabotage groups, and there is no such thing as a front line,” Polyansky said. “The infiltration is there because there are forests that are very difficult to control.”
He said Ukrainian forces in the forest area would be identified and removed “within a very short period of time.”
Polyansky called Ukraine’s invasion a “totally reckless, insane operation” and said Ukraine’s aim to force Russia to withdraw its forces from eastern Ukraine would not come to fruition because “we have enough troops there.”
