Fighting continues

EU: Ukraine has the right to attack Russia

A completely destroyed house in the Russian oblast of Kursk(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

After Ukrainian troops invaded Russia in the Kursk region, the Russian armed forces are engaged in fierce fighting for the third day in a row. There are casualties. However, the EU acknowledges that Ukraine is also defending itself against the Russian aggression outside its territory.

A spokesman for the EU's foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell said on Wednesday about the Ukrainian offensive on the Russian region of Kursk: "Ukraine is fighting a legitimate defensive war against illegal aggression. Under international law, Ukraine has the right to defend itself. This also includes hitting the enemy on its territory."

"Ukraine has the right to strike the enemy wherever necessary, on its own territory, but also on the territory of the enemy." The spokesperson did not want to comment further on the Ukrainian offensive on the neighboring Russian region of Kursk. He said that the EU was not involved in this and was in permanent contact with Kiev. The EU fully supports Ukraine in restoring its territorial integrity and pushing back Russia's illegal aggression.

Russian troops are now actively fighting Ukrainian units in the Sudzha district of Russia and are pushing them back, the Tass news agency quoted local authorities as saying. Around 3,000 people have been brought to safety. Four people were killed in the Ukrainian attacks.

Situation continues to deteriorate
Several pro-Russian military bloggers also spoke of ongoing fighting. Civilians were being taken to safety. "Sudzha is basically lost to us. This is an important logistics hub," wrote Yuri Podolyaka, a well-known pro-Russian military blogger of Ukrainian origin. The Ukrainian forces were advancing north towards Lgov. "In general, the situation is difficult and continues to deteriorate, although the pace of the Ukrainian offensive has slowed noticeably."

The Ministry of Defense in Moscow published, among other things, this image of a drone attack on an armored vehicle of the Ukrainian armed forces on Russian territory.(Bild: APA/AFP/Russian Defence Ministry)

According to Gazprom, Russian gas exports through the border area attacked by Ukraine are largely running normally. The company announced in Moscow that around 37.3 million cubic meters of natural gas are expected to be transported today. This is five percent less than the previous day, according to the Russian state news agency Tass. During their advance, the Ukrainian troops presumably also took control of a measuring station on the important gas pipeline to Western Europe. From there, the transit leads through Ukraine and on to Slovakia and Austria. In 2023, 14.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas were transported to the European Union via this route despite the ongoing war.

One of the largest Ukrainian attacks
In one of the largest Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory in the war, which has been going on since February 24, 2022, around a thousand Ukrainian soldiers entered Kursk on Tuesday morning, according to Russian reports. They crossed the state border with tanks and armored vehicles and were covered by swarms of drones and artillery fire. Officially, Ukraine is still keeping a low profile on the advance. The offensive was not mentioned in the General Staff's morning report. Experts from the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) confirmed on the basis of information in social networks that the Ukrainian troops had advanced at least ten kilometers into Russian territory.

The Vice-Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, is threatening to expand the invasion of Ukraine in view of the Ukrainian advance into the Russian border region. According to the former president, the Russian military operation should no longer be limited to securing the areas in Ukraine that Russia considers to be its territory. Instead, the armed forces should push towards the cities of Odessa, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kiev and beyond. The advance would only be halted when Russia deemed it advantageous.