By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MOSCOW/KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged Monday the massive scale of his country’s incursion into Russian territory, the first such invasion by a foreign nation since World War Two.
In a video report, Army Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi told the president, “As of now, nearly 1,000 square kilometers of Russian Federation territory are under our control” and that offensive operations are continuing in the Kursk region.
The Ukrainian attacks led to frustration in Moscow, with Russian President Vladimir Putin abruptly interrupting an acting regional governor who explained that Ukraine’s military captured 28 towns and villages in Russia’s Kursk border region.
Alexey Smirnov said the offensive prompted a sixth of its population to flee and added that Ukrainian forces had penetrated at least 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) into the region.
He added they controlled a border area 25 miles (40 kilometers) wide before Putin cut him off at a televised meeting with defense officials on Monday.
A clearly agitated Putin said this was a matter for the military to assess.
SURPRISE OFFENSIVE
“You can tell us about the socio-economic situation and about helping people,” Putin told Smirnov, who then listed assistance provided to “more than 120,000 residents” he said had left their homes in the region, with about 60,000 more waiting to be evacuated.
Ukrainian troops launched their surprise attack last Tuesday, and the offensive has been reported to have boosted morale on the Ukrainian side.
However, analysts warn that the strategy will bring fresh danger to Ukraine.
Western military sources argue there is a risk that this incursion will so anger Moscow that it could redouble its attacks on Ukraine’s civilian population and infrastructure.
Already, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and injured on both sides since Russia launched its full-scale invasion against Ukraine in February 2022.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
The Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a management alert to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make it aware of an urgent issue: ICE is incapable of monitoring hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied children (UACs) released into the country by the Biden-Harris administration.
A tense calm returned to the streets of Brazil’s most populous city on Sunday after thousands protested against a ban on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In rapidly escalating tensions, a gunman crossing from Jordan killed three Israeli civilians at the Allenby Bridge border in the Israel-controlled West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria, before security forces shot him dead on Sunday, Israeli authorities said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed illegal immigrants to use the state’s taxpayer funded home down payment equity exchange program that would have provided up to $150,000 to qualifying illegal immigrant homebuyers. Newsom’s veto cited the program’s “finite funding,” which received no money this year and ran out of funding in 11 days last year, and the state’s budget situation, which required the cutting, shifting, and deferral of spending by $47 billion this year.
Asia’s most powerful storm this year hit northern Vietnam on Saturday after tearing through China’s southern island of Hainan, where it killed two people, injured dozens, and forced hundreds of thousands to flee, officials said.
Europe’s leading human rights watchdog says Britain, the European Union, the United States, and others an artificial intelligence (AI) treaty amid concerns the technology threatens fundamental freedoms and human rights.
Uncertainty remained Saturday over the future of ceasefire talks after a previously unseen Hamas document quoted by a major German newspaper revealed the “psychological warfare” carried out by its fighters since they kidnapped 251 hostages during their October 7 attack in southern Israel.