Ukrainian troops launch ground offensive into Russia

Kyiv has launched a surprise assault into Russian territory, in the first cross-border ground incursion of its kind from Ukrainian troops since the full-scale war began two and a half years ago.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his top security officials this afternoon to co-ordinate a military response to the “large-scale provocation”, amid reports from pro-Kremlin military bloggers that Kyiv’s forces have captured several settlements near the border.

According to Russia’s Ministry of Defence, around 300 Ukrainian troops, supported by tanks and armored vehicles, crossed yesterday into the Russian region of Kursk, which sits just north of Ukraine’s Sumy region. Fighting has extended as far as Sudzha, a town of some 5,000 people about 10 kilometres from the border, and the land attack was backed by drone and missile strikes.

Ukrainian officials are yet to comment on the alleged military operation, though a cross-border incursion has been confirmed by independent military analysts. Online footage, verified by western media outlets, also shows fighter jets flying low overhead in the region on Tuesday, with smoke rising from areas on the ground.

It is unclear how many Ukrainian troops remain in the region and exactly what territory has been captured. 

The Russian MoD’s Telegram channel originally claimed that  Kyiv’s forces had been repelled from the Kursk oblast before later editing the post to remove any mention of a Ukrainian retreat. 

Rybar, a prominent Russian military blogger, said on Wednesday that Ukrainian troops had captured the Russian village of Nikolayevo-Darino as well as two other settlements and that Russian troops were “almost completely surrounded” in the village of Oleshnya, near Sudzha.

According to another local, pro-Russian Telegram channel, the Ukrainian army has taken control of the entire town of Sudzha, including the Sudzha gas metering station, one of the largest gas pumping stations in Russia, and the largest in transferring natural gas to Europe by land.

This is not the first time that a ground attack into Russian territory has been staged from Ukrainie. Yet the brief cross-border raids conducted last year were carried out by exiled anti-Kremlin Russian fighters. This attack appears to be the first to directly involve Ukrainian troops. 

Exactly what Kyiv is hoping to achieve through this unexpected ground assault is uncertain. 

Ukraine is still losing ground in the eastern Donetsk region, with Russian forces inching closer towards the strategically important city of Pokrovsk, threatening a vital Ukrainian supply line. This cross-border incursion could be an attempt to divert Moscow’s units from the Donetsk in order to relieve pressure on Ukrainian troops there struggling to contain Russian advances. 

If that is the strategy, it may well backfire. Given Russia’s far greater manpower, broadening the areas of fighting risks further overstretching Ukraine’s already outnumbered troops. 

It’s too early to say whether this increased activity in Kursk-Sumy region will be short-lived or open up a whole new frontline in the war. 

And it’s too soon to say if Ukrainian advances into Russia by foot will become a more regular feature of the conflict. Ukraine may instead decide to focus on ramping up its aerial attacks inside Russian territory. 

Kyiv has already conducted several cross-border drone strikes, targeting Russian oil and gas terminals. 

And, as Tim Marshall wrote in his latest column, Zelensky will be putting pressure on the US to grant him permission to use his new gift from Washington – F-16 fighter jets – to strike deep inside Russia, taking out airfields and supply lines to Moscow’s troops.

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