Ukrainian incursion into Russia: 5th day of fighting, nuclear power plant in danger according to Rosatom

The armies of Moscow and Kiev are fighting each other on Saturday for the fifth day since cutive of the fighting in Russia, in the border region of Kursk, where Ukrainian incursion poses risks to a local nuclear power plant, according to the Russian nuclear agency.

“The actions “The Ukrainian army's attacks pose a direct threat” to the Kursk nuclear power plant, Rosatom said in a statement quoted by Russian state news agencies. “At the moment, there is a real danger of strikes and provocations by the part of the Ukrainian army,” the text adds.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, had already called in a press release for “maximum restraint in order to avoid a nuclear accident”. The Russian mission says it informed the IAEA that “fragments and remains, likely pieces of intercepted rockets”, were found on Thursday at the plant site.

The Russian army “continues to repel the attempted border incursion by the Ukrainian armed forces,” declared the Russian Defense Ministry, specifying that it was using aviation and artillery to strike Ukrainian troops and military equipment on Russian territory.

Ukrainian incursion into Russian territory © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sabrina BLANCHARD, Sylvie HUSSON

The ministry also published images showing tank crews firing on Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region, as well as a nighttime airstrike. He assured on Friday that he had deployed additional units in the border region.

The Ukrainian offensive began Tuesday morning when units of kyiv's army crossed the border and entered the Kursk region, advancing several dozen kilometers according to independent analysts.

“The war has come to our home,” said a woman Friday afternoon as she went to greet relatives at a Moscow train station where trains carrying evacuees were arriving, an AFP journalist noted on the scene.

At least 3,000 civilians have been evacuated from Russian border areas, and additional trains to the capital Moscow have been arranged for people seeking to flee.

Photo released on August 9, 2024 by the government of the Kursk region, Russia, showing women and children evacuated from the city of Rylsk © GOVERNMENT OF KURSK REGION – HANDOUT

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According to Russian authorities, there were five dead and 55 injured among the civilians.

Faced with this “unprecedented attempt to destabilize the situation in a number of regions”, the Russian authorities also announced during the night from Friday to Saturday the establishment of the anti-terrorist regime in the regions of Kursk, Belgorod and Briansk, providing in particular for “traffic restrictions for vehicles and pedestrians on the streets, roads” and restrictions on the use of means of communication.

– Unexpected setback –

The Ministry of Defense confirmed that Kiev soldiers had reached Sudja, a Russian city of 5,500 inhabitants about ten kilometers from the border and where there is a transit hub for gas still supplying Europe – Hungary, Slovakia – via Ukraine.

Several Russian media outlets have broadcast an unverified video in which People introducing themselves as residents of Sudja are calling for help from President Vladimir Putin.

Photo posted by the governor of the Russian Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, on his Telegram channel, showing damage caused by Ukrainian shelling in Sudja, August 6, 2024 © Governor of Kursk Region – –

The progress and strength of the Ukrainian forces taking part in the incursion are not known, with Ukrainian leaders currently refraining from commenting.

“Everyone can see that the Ukrainian army knows how to surprise and how to get results,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky noted Thursday evening, without directly mentioning the incursion. There was also no comment from the United States, Kiev's main aid provider.

This unprecedented operation is an unexpected setback for the Russians, who until then had the initiative and were inexorably gaining ground in eastern Ukraine against Kiev's outnumbered troops.

The picture of this incursion drawn up by military experts shows a rapid progression of Ukrainian formations, while, in other parts of the front, the conflict has turned into a war of attrition since the end of 2022.

Russian soldiers, more numerous and better equipped, have been gaining ground in the Donetsk region in recent weeks and could conquer important cities if this trend continues, analysts estimate.

The industrial city of Kostiantynivka, located approximately 13 kilometers from the front in this same region, was mourned on Friday by a strike in broad daylight on a supermarket which left at least 14 dead and 43 wounded, according to the prosecutor's office.

The ministry Russian Defense Ministry also claimed on Saturday to have shot down 26 Ukrainian drones that attempted to attack the region during the night.

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