Zelensky confirms Ukrainian troops combating throughout border

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged, for the primary time, that his army is conducting an offensive inside Russia’s western Kursk area.

In his nightly televised handle on Saturday, Mr Zelensky stated Ukraine’s army is pushing the battle “onto the aggressor’s territory.”

This comes 5 days after Ukraine started its operation, which has taken Russia unexpectedly and prompted mass evacuations throughout either side of the border.

In Ukraine, the capital Kyiv and within the Sumy area got here beneath Russian air assault within the early hours of Sunday, officers stated.

A 35-year-old man and his four-year-old youngster had been killed in Kyiv, Ukraine’s emergency providers stated on Sunday.

Three extra had been wounded, together with a 13-year-old youngster, based on a press release posted on the Telegram messaging app.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko posted on Telegram early on Sunday morning that air defence models had been “operating” and warned civilians to remain in shelters.

In his Saturday handle, Mr Zelensky thanked Ukraine’s “warriors”, and stated he had mentioned the operation in Russia with the nation’s senior army commander Oleksandr Syrsky.

“Ukraine is proving that it can indeed restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure on the aggressor,” he added.

Reports say Ukrainian troops are threatening to grab one regional city as they struggle greater than 10km (six miles) inside Russia – the deepest advance since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

At least 13 individuals had been injured – two critically – in Kursk within the early hours of Sunday, the area’s appearing governor Alexei Smirnov stated.

More than 76,000 individuals have already been evacuated from the border space, based on Russia’s state Tass information company, and Mr Smirnov stated on Sunday he had ordered officers to hurry up the operation to get civilians to security.

Russia’s National Counter-Terrorism Committee imposed a “counter-terrorism operation” regime throughout three areas on Friday in response to Ukraine’s shock cross-border incursion.

This means authorities within the border areas of Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk areas can prohibit the motion of individuals and autos and use telephone tapping amongst different measures.

Russia stated that as much as 1,000 Ukrainian troops, supported by tanks and armoured autos, entered the Kursk area on Tuesday morning.

The Ukrainians have since reportedly seized quite a lot of villages, and are additionally threatening the regional city of Sudzha.

On Friday, a video emerged purportedly displaying armed Ukrainian troopers who claimed to have management over the city, in addition to a key Russian gasoline facility there owned by the Gazprom firm.

Daily News Verify has now confirmed that the footage was certainly from the Gazprom facility on the north-western outskirts of Sudzha, about 7km from the border with Ukraine. The video alone doesn’t confirm the declare that Ukrainian troops have taken the entire city.

Russian army bloggers earlier claimed that the city was in Moscow’s fingers.

Daily News Verify checked and confirmed the placement of one other video posted on-line on Friday morning. It exhibits a 15-vehicle Russian convoy broken, burned and deserted on a street via the city of Oktyabrskoe, roughly 38km from the border on the Russian facet.

The footage additionally exhibits Russian troopers – some injured, some probably lifeless – among the many autos.

Moscow has since despatched reinforcements – together with tanks and rocket-launcher techniques – to the Kursk area.

In its newest report on Saturday morning, the Russian defence ministry stated its troops had been “continuing to repel the attempted invasion” of Ukrainian forces.

It claimed that Ukraine’s makes an attempt to “break through deep into Russian territory” had been foiled.

The Russian claims haven’t been independently verified.

On Friday, the UN nuclear company urged each Russia and Ukraine to “exercise maximum restraint” because the combating was edging nearer to the Kursk nuclear energy plant – one of many largest such amenities in Russia.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi stated measures have to be taken “to avoid a nuclear accident with the potential for serious radiological consequences”.

The energy plant is positioned about 60km north-east of Sudzha.