By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukraine has defended its massive offensive into Russian territory, saying it is designed to persuade Moscow to engage in “fair” talks on ending its war in Ukraine. Additionally, Kyiv denied reports that it was responsible for blowing up Nord Stream pipelines that carried natural gas from Russia to Europe.
Dramatic video footage published by the 28th Mechanised Brigade of the Ukrainian Army and reviewed by Worthy News shows intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops inside Russia’s Kursk region.
Since last week, intensified shelling in Kursk was followed by an incursion of Ukrainian infantry, supported by tanks and armored vehicles.
Journalists have seen a trail of destruction in the path that Ukrainian forces carved on their risky incursion into Russia, blasting through the border and eventually into the town of Sudzha.
Artillery fire has blown chunks out of a statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin that stands in a central square of the Russian town.
As fighting escalated, Sudzha residents huddled in a school basement and wondered about their fate.
Russia’s military has so far struggled to mount an effective response to the attack on its Kursk region, the largest on the country since World War II.
MASSIVE INCURSION
The incursion has reframed the conflict, leading to the evacuation of more than 120,000 civilians, according to Russian authorities, and the capture of at least 100 Russian troops, according to Kyiv.
Sudzha, which is 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border, is the biggest town to fall to Ukraine’s troops since the incursion began on August 6.
The town, which had a population of just 5,000 before the conflict began, is strategically important.
From Sudzha, troops can access main roads to continue their operation in Russia, and West Siberian natural gas for Central Europe passes through a metering station in the Sudzha district.
Kyiv says its incision is aimed at force Russia into fair negotiations on how to end its invasion of Ukraine.
Yet so far, Moscow has refused to halt its offensive, including in Pokrovsk, where citizens have been urged to leave.
DEFENSIVE STRONGHOLD
Pokrovsk is one of Ukraine’s main defensive strongholds and a key logistics hub in the eastern Donetsk region.
Its capture would compromise Ukraine’s defensive abilities and supply routes and bring Russia closer than ever to its stated aim of capturing the whole region.
Ukraine also faces Western pressure after new details emerged about its alleged involvement in the 2022 explosion of Nord Stream pipelines transporting Russian natural gas to Europe.
Germany has issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian suspect.
Yet Kyiv has denied involvement despite Dutch, German, and U.S. intelligence sources suggesting otherwise.
Russia’s ambassador to Washington said on Friday that he did not believe Ukraine would have attacked Nord Stream without “the tacit approval of the United States” and that Russia would identify and punish those behind the attack.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest Stories from Worthy News
Saudi Arabia has softened its position on Palestinian statehood, telling Washington that “a public commitment” from Israel to a two-state solution “could be enough” for the Gulf kingdom to normalize relations with the Jewish nation, according to Saudi and Western officials.
One may be forgiven for thinking twice about enjoying a coffee here. Yet a South Korean border observatory overseeing a quiet North Korean mountain village was precisely where the Starbucks coffee chain decided to open an outlet on Friday.
Syrian opposition groups have breached Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, after blowing up two car bombs and fighting with government forces on Friday in clashes that have killed some 200 people, a Syria war monitor and witnesses say.
British legislators have agreed to legalize assisted dying for some terminally ill people, despite concerns the law could be misused to pressure patients deemed ‘unfit’ to live longer.
Setting a benchmark for jurisdictions worldwide, Australia has banned social media for children under 16. with the government saying that ” the safety of our kids is a priority.”