By Kontur and AFP | 2024-08-14

KYIV -- Ukraine August 14 pressed its surprise offensive in Russian territory and bombarded the neighboring border province of Belgorod, where the governor has declared a state of emergency.

Ukrainian forces entered Kursk province August 6 and have taken dozens of settlements in the biggest attack by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II.

Ukraine separately targeted four Russian airfields overnight with drones in the "largest attack" of its kind since Moscow invaded in 2022, a source in Kyiv's security services told AFP.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy August 13 posted footage of a video call with his military chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said Ukrainian troops have taken "control over 40 sq km of territory" and "74 settlements" over the past day.

Ukraine has captured "more than 100 Russian servicemen" over the same period, Zelenskyy said on social media.

The situation in Belgorod province, Russia, "remains extremely difficult and tense," governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram, blaming "shellings by the Ukrainian armed forces."

Belgorod had also come under attack from Ukrainian drones, he said.

Belgorod borders Kharkiv province, Ukraine, and neighbors Kursk province, Russia, where governor Alexei Smirnov last week declared a state of emergency after Ukrainian forces penetrated at least 12km into the territory and captured 28 towns and villages.

An AFP analysis of data provided by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) indicated that Ukrainian troops had advanced over an area of at least 800 sq km of Russian territory as of August 12.

The incursion is giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a "real dilemma," US President Joe Biden said August 13.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said Kyiv was not interested in "taking over" Russian territory.

"The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace ... the sooner the raids by the Ukrainian defense forces into Russia will stop," he told reporters August 13.

'Russians ran away'

Ukraine has found itself outmanned and outgunned and has struggled after some early successes in pushing Russian forces back in 2022.

The offensive into Kursk province, which caught Russia off guard, is by far the biggest cross-border action since the invasion.

On the Ukrainian side of a border crossing into Kursk, AFP reporters saw toppled concrete fortifications and caved-in remains of security and customs buildings revealing the intensity of the fighting that swept through the area.

On the road, about 10 blindfolded and bound men in Russian military fatigues were being driven in a military vehicle toward Sumy city, Ukraine.

"They didn't protect the border," a Ukrainian serviceman who took part in the offensive and identified himself as Ruzhyk told AFP in Sumy province.

Another serviceman said that his unit of military engineers went in to clear Russian land mines before Ukrainian tanks entered.

"But when our guys came in, the Russians ran away. They didn't have time to press the detonate buttons."

A 27-year-old squad leader, who identified himself as Faraon, was sparing but direct in his description of battles in Kursk.

"I saw a lot of death in the first few days. It was terrifying at first, but then we got used to it," he told AFP.

'Big blow'

Putin has vowed to "dislodge" Ukrainian troops.

"One of the obvious goals of the enemy is to sow discord" and "destroy the unity and cohesion of our society," he told a televised meeting with officials August 12.

Ukraine seeks to "stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilize Russia as it is unable to protect its own border," a Ukrainian security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Thousands of Ukrainian troops were involved in the operation, said the Ukrainian official.

Russians in Moscow told AFP they were concerned by Ukraine's operation, which caught the Kremlin off guard.

"This whole situation is a big blow. It's very hard to lead a normal, calm life, knowing that such things are happening there," said salesperson Yulia Rusakova.

Olga Raznoglazova, a 36-year-old account manager visiting from Kursk province, said she felt the operation had brought the war closer to home.

"Now, when it is happening right next door to us... it is a completely different feeling," she said.

"It's very worrying."