Zelenskiy: Attack on Kursk Border to Pressure Russian Troops

JAKARTA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine had launched an incursion into Russian territory to restore justice and pressure Moscow's forces.

Moscow's forces fought a sixth day of fierce fighting on Sunday against Kyiv's biggest incursion into Russian territory since the start of the war, leaving parts of southwest Russia vulnerable before reinforcements began arriving.

Russian authorities rushed to evacuate residents and enforce a full security regime in three border regions on Saturday after the attack that military analysts said caught the Kremlin off guard.

Moscow's staunch ally has also sent more troops to its border with Ukraine.

Zelenskiy said in a statement that he had discussed the operation with Ukraine's top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Zelenskiy also vowed to respond in kind after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

"Today, I received several reports from Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi regarding the front lines and our actions to push the war into the aggressor's territory," he said, as reported by Reuters.

“Ukraine proves that they can indeed restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure – pressure against the Russian invasion,” he added.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday it destroyed 14 Ukrainian drones and four Tochka-U tactical ballistic missiles overnight in the Kursk region, and 18 drones in other Russian regions frequently attacked by Ukraine.

Russia called the ground offensive “barbaric” and said it made no military sense.