Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on August 8 that Russia had brought war to his country, saying “Russia must realize what it has done,” after Russia claimed it had repelled a surprise cross-border attack by Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region of Ukraine.
Zelenskiy did not directly mention the incursion, but Russia said it was in its third day and included up to 1,000 Ukrainian troops supported by tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery.
He said he had been briefed by Ukrainian armed forces commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Shirsky, who called the military action “effective” and “exactly what our country needs right now.”
Mykhailo Podoljak, an adviser to President Zelenskyy, previously commented indirectly on the operation on X, saying that “the root cause of all escalation, shelling, military actions, forced evacuations and the destruction of daily life, including on Russian territory like in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, is only clear Russian aggression.”
“This includes attempts to seize foreign territory and disregarding the norms of international law that clearly uphold sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Podoljak said on August 8.
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President Zelensky also indirectly commented on the invasion, saying in a Telegram message: “Russia brought war to our country. They must realize what they have done.”
Without mentioning Kursk, he said three reports had been submitted by the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Gen. Oleksandr Shirsky. “The reports are effective. This is exactly what our country needs right now,” he said.
Russia had earlier claimed that Kiev’s forces had fired rockets at civilians and residential areas in the Kursk region after a pro-war Russian blogger reported that Ukrainian forces had advanced into Russian territory and seized a number of villages.
Kursk Oblast’s acting governor, Alexei Smirnov, declared a state of emergency on August 7 after Russian President Vladimir Putin called the military operation “another large-scale provocation.”
In a statement on August 8, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Russia’s Northern Battle Group and border guard forces had thwarted attempts by Ukrainian forces to break through the Suzha and Koreneva districts.
The ministry had earlier claimed to have shot down six drones and five missiles in the Kursk region and 14 drones in the Belgorod region.
Belgorod Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed one person was killed and one wounded in Ukrainian artillery fire on Shevekino.
Meanwhile, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, Russian forces shelled the town of Kostyantynivka on August 8, killing two civilians, the region’s governor, Vadim Filashkin, said in a Telegram message.
Russian airstrikes in Sumy oblast killed two people, including a child, and wounded two more, Sumy oblast governor Volodymyr Artyukh said.
Russia also said that Ukrainian forces had crossed the border near the main natural gas transmission hub of Suzha. The gas transfer and metering station in Suzha in the Kursk region is the only point at which Russian natural gas enters Ukraine’s gas transmission system for transport to Europe.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Kharushchenko said on August 8 that Ukraine had not received any communication from Russia about the status of gas shipments, but that the route for Russian gas passing through Ukraine to Europe remained functional.
Additionally, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on August 8 that it was aware of the situation around Russia’s Kursk Nuclear Power Plant and was monitoring it, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Former President Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, called on Russian forces to invade Ukraine further after Russia claimed it had intercepted Ukrainian drones and missiles aimed at the Kursk region.
Commenting on Ukraine’s aggression in the Kursk region, Medvedev said Moscow should aim beyond securing territory that Russia considers its own, and urged further advances into the Ukrainian regions of Odessa, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mykolaiv and Kiev.
EU spokesman Peter Stano told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian-language service that the EU does not comment on battlefield operations but believes “Ukraine has the legal right to defend itself, including by attacking aggressors on its territory.”
Meanwhile, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on August 7 that the White House had reached out to Ukraine to “understand a little better” the situation in the Kursk region.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed on August 7 that U.S. policy regarding Ukraine’s use of American weapons across the border or against Russian military facilities has not changed.
Miller added that what is currently happening “is not a violation of our company policies.”
Reuters and Associated Press reports