International News – Moscow sends in troops as Ukraine pushes deeper into Russia

Ukrainian forces advanced deeper into Russia on Friday, seeking to take advantage of a surprise invasion across their border, while Moscow moved quickly to bolster its defences against the biggest assault on Russian soil since the war began.

After seizing several small settlements in the past few days, Ukraine was struggling to regain full control of a town near the border and was sending small units to carry out raids in the southwestern Russian region of Kursk.

At the same time, Russian Military announced it was sending more troops and armoured vehicles to thwart the attack. Russian Television Released videos of military trucks carrying artillery, heavy machine guns and tanks.

Preparing for a possible retaliation, Ukrainian authorities said on Friday they were evacuating 20,000 people from the Sumy region, which lies across the border from Kursk.

The bust underscored that Ukraine’s offensive has added an unexpected new element to a war that has been moving slowly elsewhere on the battlefront. Ukraine’s success so far could provide a much-needed boost to a country whose military has been steadily losing ground for months, while the war is taking an even more grim toll on Russian civilians.

But military analysts have questioned whether the operation is worth the risk, given that Ukrainian forces are already under strain. It is also unclear whether the mission will help Ukraine improve its position on the rest of the battlefield, as it would force Russia to withdraw troops from elsewhere to reinforce the border region.

The Ukrainian military has maintained a policy of silence regarding the operation, and has not publicly acknowledged carrying out a cross-border attack.

Kiev’s allies in the past have been wary of Ukrainian incursions into Russia, fearing it could escalate war, but there has been no public indication from Western countries that they oppose the attack. The United States has said the Ukrainian incursion does not violate American guidance.

However, senior US officials have privately said they have not received any briefings on the operation and still seek clarity about its rationale and justification.

The officials said they understand Kiev’s need to change the tenor and narrative of the war, but they doubt Ukraine will be able to hold on to the region long enough to force Russia to divert significant forces from its offensives in eastern and southern Ukraine.

“It’s a gamble,” one senior administration official said.

Still, the president’s top adviser, Mikhailo Podolyak, is upbeat about the international response. “Most people silently support it,” he said. wrote on social media On Thursday evening he said a significant part of the world now considers Russia “a legitimate target for any operation and type of weapons.”

The fighting in Russia showed no signs of abating on Friday. Ukrainian Army It said it had attacked Russian airfields in the Lipetsk region, which borders Kursk, and destroyed depots storing guided aerial bombs. Russian Officials He said a major drone attack had caused multiple explosions and There was a fire at a military airport,

Ukrainian officials It also said Russia attacked a supermarket in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, 200 miles south of the fighting zone, killing 14 people and wounding 43 others. The claims by both sides could not be independently confirmed.

Military analysts said the cross-border attack involved elements of at least four brigades, a rare example of successful maneuver with the support of artillery, air defense and electronic warfare, resulting in rapid progress on the ground.

“It appears to be a fairly well-coordinated and planned joint armed operation,” said Vienna-based military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady. “You have electronic warfare assets that were deployed to disrupt Russian command and control. You have air defenses that were moved to create an air defense bubble around the Ukrainian advance. And then you have quite effective mechanized formations that are moving at a fairly steady pace.”

Mr. Gaidi and other experts said the main question now is whether Ukraine can maintain its momentum and turn its success on Russian territory into useful gains. Analysts say the Ukrainian military has few reserves it can use in fighting, and it is suffering from a shortage of weapons and ammunition.

It is also unclear what Ukraine ultimately wants to achieve. A senior Ukrainian official who discussed the operation on condition of anonymity said its goal was to draw Russian troops away from other parts of the front line, where Ukrainian units are clashing. But military experts said Russia would likely be able to respond with reserves that are not fighting in Ukraine.

“Does this really solve the major military strategic problems that other parts of the front line are suffering from?” Mr. Gaddy asked.

Mick Ryan, a retired Australian Army major general and fellow at a research group called the Lowy Institute, said one of the aims may be to boost the morale of the Ukrainian people. “Given the defensive operations of the past eight months, the constant air attacks on infrastructure and the lack of electricity, the will of the people will be at the forefront of the Ukrainian government’s thoughts about the direction of the war,” he said. Said,

A Map of the battlefield A survey by the Black Bird Group, a Finland-based organization that analyzes images from the battlefield, shows that Ukrainian troops have seized about 100 square miles of Russian territory since the start of the offensive, although it is still unclear whether they have taken control of all of it. They have advanced through two lines of Russian defenses.

In particular, Ukrainian forces entered Sudza, a small town of about 6,000 people six miles from the Ukrainian-Russian border. On Friday, Ukrainian soldiers claimed in a video that the city was under their control. This claim could not be independently confirmed.

Emil Castehelmi, analyst at Blackbird Group, said, wrote on social media Some Ukrainian units appeared to be probing north toward a town called Lgov, about 50 miles from the border, in what appeared to be a test of Russian defenses.

A Video posted on social media A video verified by The New York Times on Friday morning showed a row of destroyed Russian military vehicles east of Rylsk, a Russian town located west of the border region occupied by Ukraine.

It remains to be seen whether Ukraine will try to consolidate control over the occupied territory by advancing into Russian territory, or retreat after a few days, as has happened in earlier small-scale cross-border raids.

Mr. Castellmi said Ukraine cannot move further north without widening its borders and exposing itself to Russian counterattacks. “Time is running against the Ukrainians,” he wrote. “The Russians will not remain in disarray forever.”

Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.