Ukraine Says Russian Forces Storming Border From Kursk

Russian infantry are storming the Ukrainian border from the Russian region of Kursk, near areas of the region that are controlled by Ukrainian forces, Kyiv said Friday.

Ukraine said that for the moment the offensive has been contained.

Ukraine launched a surprise offensive into the Kursk region in August last year hoping the territory it captured could eventually be swapped for Ukrainian territory under Russian control.

The Kremlin has deployed a significant force including North Korean troops to try to dislodge Ukrainian soldiers holding on to stretches of the territory, including the town of Sudzha.

A Ukrainian government agency aimed at countering disinformation said Russian infantry were launching attacks at the Ukrainian border near the town of Novenke, highlighting the increasingly difficult fight facing Ukraine.

“The Defence Forces are destroying the enemy. At the moment, there has been no breakthrough and the fighting continues,” its statement said.

The Ukrainian army meanwhile said it had destroyed ammunition storage near the occupied town of Selydove in the eastern Donetsk region.

The Kremlin claimed to have annexed the Donetsk region in late 2022 and fully capturing the industrial territory remains its top military priority.

Authorities in the region said three people had been killed and two more wounded in separate attacks in the industrial region.

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Another civilian was killed by Russian artillery fire in Myrnograd, they said, identifying the victim as a 53-year-old.

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Separately, the Ukrainian military said its drones had struck a Russian oil refinery in the eastern Russian region of Krasnodar.

Russian forces launched 208 drones, including Iranian designed Shahed-type attack unmanned aerial vehicles, at targets across the country, the Ukrainian air force said.