KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that his country’s forces had intruded into Russian territory and taken full control of the Russian town of Sudzha in the Kursk region.
The town, reportedly the largest taken by Ukraine so far, had a pre-war population of about 5,000. It houses a measurement station for Russian natural gas that flows through Ukrainian gas pipelines to Europe.
Natural gas from West Siberian gas fields flows into the Ukrainian system through pipelines passing through Sudzha and across the border.
Zelenskyy said an office of the Ukrainian military commander was being set up in Sudzha. He did not provide further details about the office’s operations or tasks.
The claim could not be independently confirmed. Russia did not react to Zelenskyy’s comments, but its defense ministry indicated earlier Thursday that Russian forces had repelled attempts to occupy several other communities.
There is no sign of any disruption in the flow of gas through Sudzha, which accounts for about 3% of European imports.
Satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press on Thursday show that at least two hangars and other areas have been damaged by the Ukrainian drone attack on Russian air bases.
Images taken by Planet Labs PBC on Wednesday show that two hangars at Borisoglebsk Air Base were affected, with debris around both. It is currently unknown what the hangars were used for. It appears that two fighter jets at the base may also have suffered possible damage.
Russian authorities ordered evacuation
On the other hand, Wednesday’s photos from the Savasleyka Air Base show burn marks on the platform, although there is no apparent damage to the fighter jets and other aircraft stationed there.
Kursk’s acting governor, Alexei Smirnov, on Thursday ordered the evacuation of the Glushkovo area, about 28 miles northwest of Sudzha, where heavy fighting was taking place, as the Ukrainian incursion into the Russian border region of Kursk entered its second week.
The evacuation order shows Ukrainian troops are slowly moving toward the area. Authorities say more than 120,000 residents in Kursk have already been evacuated.
At a reception center, Tatyana Alekseyeva recalled memories of escaping the fighting.
“We came running from Sudzha (…) We hid in the bushes. Volunteers distributed water, food, bread to people fleeing. The sound of artillery shells continued unabated. The house was shaking,” she said in a statement to Russian state television.
Displaced people are waiting in long lines to receive food and other supplies. A man was stroking his dog to comfort it because he said it was nauseous and couldn’t eat.
Russia also declared a state of emergency at the federal level in Belgorod province. It had been declared at the regional level the day before, and the change in status suggests that authorities believe the situation is worsening and hampering the ability to provide aid.
The Russian Emergency Ministry reported that residents who suffered serious damage to their health could receive payments of up to $6,600, and those who suffered material damage could receive payments of up to $1,700.
Ukrainian army chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said Kyiv’s troops had seized about 390 square miles of Kursk province.
That claim could not be independently confirmed. The lines of contact in Kursk remained fluid, allowing both sides to maneuver easily, unlike the static front line in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces took months to gradually gain ground.
Russian military bloggers have claimed that Russian reserves arriving in the area have slowed rival advances, but have also noted that small Ukrainian mechanized units continue to test Russian defenses.
Speaking to reporters at the United Nations on Wednesday, Moscow’s deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyansky rejected Syrskyi’s claim about a Ukrainian advance.
“What is happening in Kursk is an infiltration of terrorist sabotage groups, so there is no front line as such,” he said. “There are infiltrations because there are forests and they are very difficult to control.”
Some Ukrainian troops would be withdrawn in the “very short term,” he said.
Polyansky called the raid an “absolutely reckless and insane operation,” and said Kyiv’s goal of forcing the Kremlin to move its troops from the east is not going to happen because “we have enough troops there.”
