Is Ukraine ’invading’ Russia? Kyiv’s ’largest attack since World War II’ a blow to Putin: What we know so far

Is Ukraine 'invading' Russia now? On Tuesday, August 6, Kyiv launched what's believed to be the "biggest cross-border offensive" since February 2022, when Russia had first launched a war against Ukraine. Reports on Monday claimed that Ukrainian troops have advanced up to 30 km inside Russia. While some media outlets referred to this move as an "invasion", most of them called it a "surprise incursion".

The acting regional governor reportedly told President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine’s military has taken control of 28 towns and villages in Russia’s Kursk border region.

Ukraine's latest offensive is deemed the "most significant attack" across the border since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to news agency AFP, Ukraine's attack last week was also the "most significant by a foreign army since World War II".

Putin warns Ukraine

The move seems to have put Russian President Vladimir Putin on alert. On Monday, Putin acknowledged Ukrainian troops' actions and warned that "talks with a government that attacks civilians make no sense". He was referring to the Volodymyr Zelenskyy-led Ukrainian government.

Putin said the attack that began on August 6 appeared to reflect Kyiv’s attempt to gain a better negotiating position in possible future talks to end the war. He said the Russian army must "dislodge" Ukrainians from the border region.

"It is now clear why the Kiev regime refused our proposals to return to the plan for peaceful settlement," Putin was quoted by TASS as saying. "The enemy, with the help of its Western masters - is doing their bidding, and the West is waging war against us using Ukrainians - …seeks to improve its negotiating position in the future," he said.

"But what kind of negotiations can we even talk about with people who indiscriminately strike civilians, civilian infrastructure or try to create threats to nuclear power facilities," the Russian president went on to say, adding, "What can we even talk about with them?".

Putin said, “The main task, of course, is for the defence ministry to squeeze out, to knock out the enemy from our territories.”

The Russian president argued that Ukraine may have hoped to cause public unrest in Russia with the attack, adding that it has failed to achieve that goal. He further claimed that the number of volunteers to join the Russian military has increased because of the assault. He said the Russian military is driving on with its eastern Ukraine offensive regardless, the Associated Press reported.

All you need to know about Ukraine's 'incursion' on Russia

Ukraine launched a surprise offensive into Russia's western Kursk region on August 6 this year. Around 1,000 troops and more than two dozen armoured vehicles and tanks were deployed, according to the Russian army.

Reports further claimed that the Ukrainian advance centred on the logistical hub of Sudzha, a town located 8 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. They reportedly still hold the western part of the town, which is the site of an important natural gas transit station.

Ukrainian troops captured over two dozen settlements in the most significant cross-border attack on Russian soil since World War II, news agency AFP reported. It's the biggest cross-border operation in the two-and-a-half-year conflict. It is also the first time the Ukrainian army has spearheaded an incursion rather than pro-Ukraine Russian fighters.

Kursk governor Alexei Smirnov imposed a state of emergency in the region on Wednesday, 36 hours after Ukrainian soldiers, tanks and armoured vehicles stormed into the western border region.

The Ukrainian army’s incursion into the Kursk region has caused more than 1,00,000 civilians to flee, the Associated Press reported. Following the serious attacks, authorities in Kursk said they were extending their evacuation area to include Belovsky district. The neighbouring Belgorod region said it was evacuating its border district of Krasnoyaruzhsky.

Ukraine unusually silent

Ukraine has maintained an unusual silence. Kyiv has not officially taken responsibility for the operation, but an aide to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow was to blame for the incursion.

However, Zelensky thanked Ukrainian troops on Wednesday, August 7, for their "bravery". Without making any specific reference to the fighting in Kursk, he said, “The more pressure we put on Russia... the closer we will get to peace. A just peace through just force.”

A day later, on Thursday, Zelensky said Russia needed to "feel" the consequences of its war. "Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done," Zelensky said in his evening address, again without directly referring to the offensive.

On Friday, Russia appeared to hit back, launching a missile strike on a supermarket in the east Ukrainian town of Kostyantynivka that killed at least 14 people. Another three were killed in the northeastern Kharkiv region (Ukraine) on Saturday, local officials were quoted as saying. Ukraine also said it evacuated 20,000 people from the Sumy region, just across the border from Kursk.

On Sunday, the Russian army conceded that Ukraine had penetrated up to 30 kilometres into Russian territory in places, AFP reported.

Russia calls it 'large-scale provocation'

President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine had indiscriminately attacked civilian buildings and ambulances, while Russia's top general vowed to crush the incursion. "The Kyiv regime has undertaken another large-scale provocation," Putin was quoted by AFP as saying on August 8.

Acting Kursk Gov. Alexei Smirnov said 12 civilians were killed and 121 others, including 10 children, were wounded in the operation. About 1,21,000 people have been evacuated or left the areas affected by fighting on their own. The total planned number of evacuations is 1,80,000.

On Thursday, August 8, Russia's defence ministry said its troops were "continuing to destroy" armed Ukrainian units and were using air strikes, rocket and artillery fire to try to push them back.

Is Russia embarrassed?

The surprise attack appeared to catch Russia's army off guard, triggering criticism of its top brass by the country's influential military bloggers. The incursion exposed Russia’s vulnerabilities as Russian troops failed to mount a quick response to it.

According to the Associated Press, Ukraine's latest attack has delivered a blow to Putin’s efforts to pretend that life in Russia has largely remained unaffected by the war.

State propaganda has tried to play down the attack, emphasizing the authorities’ efforts to help residents of the region and seeking to distract attention from the military’s failure to prepare for the attack and quickly repel it.

The incursion also sent a strong signal to Kyiv’s allies that the Ukrainian military could seize the initiative and rout the Russian army, a message particularly important ahead of the US presidential election.

What the US said

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Washington was "reaching out to our Ukrainian counterparts to get a little better understanding".

He added that "nothing has changed about our policy" and Ukraine can use US-supplied weapons only "to target imminent threats just across the border".

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said of the Kremlin: "It is a little bit rich, them calling it a provocation, given Russia violated Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty."