Russia Says Ukraine's Armed Forces' Attack on Southern Kursk Oblast Is a "Massive Provocation"

Russian President Putin said on August 7 that the attack by the Ukrainian armed forces on the southern Kursk Oblast of Russia was yet another "massive provocation".

According to the news on the Russian presidential website, Putin convened a meeting with members of the Russian government, heads of powerful departments, etc. on the same day to discuss the situation in Kursk Oblast. Putin said at the meeting that the Ukrainian army carried out "indiscriminate attacks" on Kursk Oblast using various types of weapons, including missile strikes on civilian buildings. Putin requested that all regions of Russia actively provide support to Kursk Oblast.

The Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Gerasimov, said in a video form at the relevant meeting on the same day that the Ukrainian army launched an offensive on Kursk Oblast starting from the 6th, with the aim of occupying Russian territory. The Russian ground and air forces prevented the Ukrainian army from advancing deeper into the Kursk direction. The Ukrainian army had 100 deaths and 215 injuries during the operation, and 54 pieces of armored equipment, including 7 tanks, were destroyed.

The acting governor of Kursk Oblast, Smirnov, posted a message on social media on the 7th saying that the local government has organized the evacuation of more than 200 residents from the attacked areas, and several thousand more people have evacuated using private transportation.

The assistant minister of the Russian Ministry of Health, Kuznetsov, told the media on the 7th that the attack by the Ukrainian armed forces on Kursk Oblast on the 6th has injured 24 people, including 6 children. According to TASS reports, the attack has caused multiple deaths.

The Russian Ministry of Defense issued a notification on the 6th saying that on the morning of the same day, nearly 300 armed personnel of the 22nd Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian army, supported by 11 tanks and more than 20 armored vehicles, launched an attack on the border defense positions of the Russian army deployed at the Russia-Ukraine border in Kursk Oblast. The Russian army carried out strikes on the Ukrainian army that entered the border area and the Ukrainian army in Sumy Oblast of Ukraine, destroying some of the tanks and armored vehicles of the Ukrainian army.

At present, the Ukrainian side has not made an official response to the attack on the Kursk Oblast of Russia.