Putin assures that the Ukrainian offensive at Kursk will not stop the Russian advance in the East

Russian President Vladimir Putin has welcomed Monday of the acceleration of the advance of his army in eastern Ukraine, proof according to him that the Ukrainian offensive in the region ;Russian Kursk region launched in early August is doomed to failure.

Ukraine suffered a new massive missile and drone attack overnight, particularly against the capital Kiev, which left at least three people injured and damaged an Islamic cultural center, according to the authorities.< /p>

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack on the Kursk border region on August 6, quickly claiming to have captured dozens of towns, including the small town of Sudja.

An office building hit by a Russian missile strike in Kiev, Ukraine on September 2, 2024 © AFP – Sergei CHUZAVKOV

While official Russian discourse has so far tried to downplay this Ukrainian offensive that caught Moscow off guard, Mr. Putin proclaimed on Monday that it was necessary to “deal with these bandits who have penetrated into Russian territory.”

However, he considered that Kiev's army had “not achieved the main task (it) had set for itself: to stop the (Russian) offensive in Donbass,” the industrial east of Ukraine, where most of the fighting is still taking place.

“I am therefore certain that this provocation will fail,” he added, referring to the Ukrainian operation in Kursk.

Despite Ukrainian successes on Russian soil, Moscow's army continues to advance in eastern Ukraine, and these advances have accelerated significantly in recent weeks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (l) and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on September 2, 2024 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine © Press Service of the Ukrainian Presidency – Handout

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, receiving the new Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, noted that the situation around the city of Pokrovsk, the main target of Russian ambitions, remained “difficult” but that “for two days there has been no Russian advance” in the area.

Concerning the Kursk region, the Ukrainian leader did not mention any progress on the ground but claimed to have taken some 600 prisoners, which would allow for the negotiation of new exchanges.

– At the gates of Pokrovsk –

Russian forces advanced 477 km2 in August, their most significant monthly advance since October 2022, according to data provided by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and analyzed by AFP.

Ukraine: the positions of the military forces © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS, Cléa PECULIER

The Ukrainian army has advanced over an area of ​​between 1,150 and 1,300 km2 in the Kursk region, a progression that has gradually frozen.

Russian troops claimed on Monday the capture of Skuchne, a village located near the city of Pokrovsk, an important logistics hub less than ten kilometers from which they are located. This conquest, however, appears to date back to about ten days ago, according to the specialized site DeepState, made up of open source researchers.

According to Pokrovsk Mayor Sergiy Dobriak, 30,500 residents are still in the city despite the approach of fighting and repeated calls from the authorities to urgently evacuate.

“Before the street fighting begins, we still have a few defensive lines built,” he told Radio Svoboda.

For the Ukrainian authorities, who have claimed that the Kursk operation was aimed, among other things, at forcing Russia to redeploy forces that were on the offensive in the east to this region, the bet therefore seems complicated to win.

Ukraine: cee Russian to Pokrovsk © AFP – Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA, Sabrina BLANCHARD, Valentin RAKOVSKY

According to Mr Putin, Russian troops advance several square kilometres in each attack, and not just a few hundred metres as before. “It's been a long time since we've seen such a pace of offensive in Donbass,” he boasted.

And in a new challenge to international justice, Mr. Putin arrived in Mongolia on Monday for his first trip to a member country of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since the issuance of an arrest warrant against him.

– Chain strikes –

A new Russian salvo of 35 missiles and 23 drones also targeted Ukraine during the night, of which 22 and 20 respectively were shot down.

According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia attacked kyiv and the regions of Sumy and Kharkiv (northeast). In the capital, three people were injured, according to the head of the Kiev military administration, Sergiy Popko.

Smoke above a building after a Russian missile strike, September 2, 2024 in Kiev, Ukraine © AFP – Sergei SUPINSKY

Overnight, loud explosions were heard and seen in Kiev, according to AFP journalists, who saw people running through the streets to find shelter.

In the city of Sumy, a social and psychological support center for children and an orphanage were hit Sunday evening by a Russian strike, injuring 18 people, the Interior Ministry announced, without specifying whether it was part of the wave of the night or an isolated attack.

At least one person was killed and five injured in several other Russian bombings in Ukraine in the last 24 hours, according to the Ukrainian authorities.

On the Russian side, during the night, the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, reported a Ukrainian air strike that injured one person and damaged a kindergarten.

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