AP and Sputnik
The newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, August 14, 2024, p. 25
kyiv. Russia said yesterday that its forces had stopped an attempt by Ukraine to expand its surprise incursion into the Kursk region, while a Kiev official said his government had no intention of occupying Russian territory.
The new Russian reserves, including army aircraft, drone equipment and artillery forces, have stopped Ukrainian mobile units from advancing further into their territory, near the settlements of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk and Alexeyevsky, the Defence Ministry said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi explained that the incursion was only intended to protect Ukrainian territory from long-range attacks launched by Russia from Kursk.
Ukraine is not interested in occupying the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our peopleTykhyi said, according to local media.
He said Russia had launched more than 2,000 strikes from the Kursk region in recent months, using anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, mortars, drones, 255 glider bombs and more than 100 missiles.
He added that The purpose of this operation is to preserve the lives of our children and protect the territory of Ukraine from Russian attacks..
Ukraine’s Western allies have insisted that the country has the right to defend itself, if necessary, with cross-border strikes. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk backed the Ukrainian operation, although he said kyiv had not consulted him beforehand.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s general command reported that in the past 24 hours, Russian troops launched 52 assaults in the area of Pokrovsk, a town in the Donetsk region that is close to the battlefront. This is twice the number of daily attacks recorded there over the past week.
Belarus has informed the United Nations Security Council and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe about Ukrainian drones shot down in its airspace on Friday, the Foreign Ministry said.
On the 9th, a group of drones launched from Ukraine crossed the border with Belarus and were shot down by the country’s anti-aircraft defense systems.
President Alexander Lukashenko called the attack a provocation, adding that will not go unanswered.