Kyiv Hits Russian Border, 5 People Killed

Ukrainian Military/PHOTO via Instagram @uaf_general_staff

JAKARTA - Ukraine's Kyiv is reportedly continuing to launch airstrikes on Russia's Kursk border area. Its defense system destroyed four drones overnight.

The Russian Defense Ministry sent a reserve force on Tuesday to help expel hundreds of Ukrainian fighters backed by tanks from Kursk, in the biggest ground offensive to Russian territory during the war, which has now lasted more than two years.

The situation is 'controllable', said Alexei Smirnov, acting governor of Russia's southwestern region.

All emergency services are on high alert, he said. The Russian ministry called on the public to donate blood to fill medical supplies.

The area is under dozens of airstrike warnings over the past 24 hours, according to a Smirnov post.

As of Wednesday morning, there were no reports of any new land battles.

Five people were killed, including two ambulance crew, and 20 injured, among them six children, in fighting that broke out on Tuesday.

Ukraine did not make official comments, despite evidence of military action from its border areas. Neither Kyiv nor Moscow said their attacks did target civilians.

Ukraine routinely fires artillery and missiles at Russian territory, and attacks targets deep within Russian territory with long-range attack drones. But infantry attacks are rare.

Troops describing themselves as voluntary paramilitary fighting on the Ukrainian side only caused minimal damage in massive attacks on several areas of Belgorod and Kursk this year.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian general staff did not mention any of Ukraine's offensive operations in Russia.

Russian official social media accounts say up to 300 Ukrainian fighters, backed by tanks, have attacked border units at two locations in Kursk Nikolayevo-Daryino and Oleshnya.