Ukraine launches ground attacks in Kursk region, Russian war bloggers say
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Members of Ukrainian special forces engage in zeroing their weapons prior to a mission, amid Russia?s attack on Ukraine, in the region of Bakhmut, Ukraine, April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
MOSCOW - Ukrainian forces attacked Russia's western Kursk region on Monday, firing missiles, smashing through the border and then crossing minefields with special vehicles, according to Russian war bloggers.
"The enemy blew up bridges with rockets at night and launched an attack with armoured groups in the morning," Russian "RVvoenkor" war blogger said on Telegram.
"The mine clearance vehicles began to make passages in the minefields, followed by armored vehicles with troops. There is a heavy battle going on at the border."
The Ukrainian attack in Kursk was reported by multiple other Russian bloggers including "The archangel of special forces" and Russian state television war correspondent Alexander Sladkov.
Ukrainian officials have not commented on any advances but prosecutors said Russian shelling and guided bomb attacks during the day killed at least three people and injured others in border villages in the neighboring Sumy region.
There was no immediate official comment from Russia, but the war bloggers published maps showing Ukrainian forces trying to push over the border in two places towards Tyotkino.
The Ukrainian military said on Monday that its forces struck a Russian drone command unit near Tyotkino on Sunday.
Local authorities in the Sumy region also called on people to urgently evacuate from two settlements - Bilopillya and Vorozhba - lying some 9-12 kilometers across the border from Tyotkino.
Russia's top general said last month that Ukrainian troops had been ejected from the Kursk region, ending the biggest incursion into Russian territory since World War Two, and that Russia was carving out a buffer zone in the region of Sumy.
The Ukrainian military says the operation in Kursk region is continuing.
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge, William Maclean and Toby Chopra)
