8/14/2024–|Last update: 8/14/202409:50 AM (Makkah Time)
Ukraine continued to bombard the Russian border region of Kursk with missiles and drones on Wednesday, and while Russia announced the destruction of dozens of Ukrainian drones, US President Joe Biden considered the Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region a “real dilemma” for the Russian president.
Although Kiev confirmed that it was making further gains on the ground in its advance into the Kosk region, Russia confirmed that the advance of Kiev's forces had stopped.
On Wednesday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its forces had shot down 4 missiles, 117 drones, and 4 tactical missiles launched by Ukraine overnight at several areas, including Kursk.
The ministry added via Telegram that missiles and 37 drones were destroyed over Kursk, and 37 drones were destroyed over the Voronezh region.
State of emergency in Belgorod
Meanwhile, the governor of the border region of Belgorod, south of Kursk, Vyacheslav Gladkov, declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, citing continued attacks by Ukrainian forces. He said he would ask Moscow to declare a federal state of emergency.
“The situation in the Belgorod region remains very difficult and tense,” Governor Gladkov said in a video posted on Telegram.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the Air Force launched raids on Tuesday morning on a gathering of Ukrainian military forces and vehicles in a border area in Kursk province.
The Russian ministry added that Sukhoi Su-34 fighters launched raids using aerial bombs equipped with a comprehensive correction and planning unit.
She pointed out that the Military Intelligence Unit confirmed, for its part, that the Russian fighters were able to destroy all targets.
The Russian Defense Ministry released footage of Sukhoi Su-34 bombers striking what it said were Ukrainian forces in the Kursk border region. The footage also shows infantry soldiers storming Ukrainian positions.
Ukraine announces control of 74 towns
In contrast, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that his country's forces had taken control of 74 towns in Russia's Kursk Oblast, and were continuing their advance in the region.
“Despite difficult and intense fighting, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region… Ukraine controls 74 towns,” Zelensky said in a post on Telegram on Tuesday, about a week after the start of the offensive on Russian territory.
He added that Ukraine had managed to “replenish” the number of Russian prisoners of war to exchange them for its soldiers.
The Ukrainian president posted a video clip showing him making a video call with army commander Oleksandr Syrsky, who told him that forces had advanced in some areas between one and three kilometers in the past 24 hours.
The Ukrainian army commander confirmed that fighting is continuing along the front and that “the situation is under control despite the intensity of the fighting.”
About a thousand Ukrainian soldiers stormed the Russian border in the early hours of August 6 with tanks and armored vehicles.
Biden comments on Ukrainian incursion
On the other hand, US President Joe Biden said yesterday, Tuesday, that the Ukrainian military incursion into Russia “created a real dilemma” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that his country's officials are in constant contact with the Ukrainians regarding this move.
A US official said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk appeared to be aimed at forcing Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine to defend Russian territory against cross-border attack.
Biden said he was briefed every four to five hours on Ukraine's moves over the past week, but the White House said Ukraine did not notify him in advance of its incursion into the Kursk region.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre also denied any role for Washington in the operation.
The United States has provided billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine since Russia's war on it began in February 2022.
Last May, Biden allowed Kyiv to fire American weapons at military targets inside Russia in support of an offensive against the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.