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The government of Russia’s Kursk region declared a state of emergency when army analysts reported that Ukrainian forces had infiltrated several kilometers across the border.
By Andrew E. Kramer
Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine
After months of losing ground to Russia in brutal and fierce fighting in Ukraine, Kyiv replaced tactics with a stunning attack on Russian territory this week that took Moscow by surprise and opened a new front in the 30-month-old war.
Ukrainian forces broke through Russian border defenses and captured several settlements in fighting that continued Thursday, according to Russian officials, a Ukrainian soldier and analysts. The attack triggered a state of emergency in a region of western Russia. Ukrainian armored columns were filmed advancing on roads up to six miles into Russia.
But the attack has led some military analysts to question why Ukraine would devote its scarce resources to a dangerous attack in a new area, at a time when it is fighting pitched battles to maintain its positions on its own territory.
It was unclear whether Ukraine would try to retain the region. Whatever the Ukrainian forces did next, the attack appears to have broken down Russia’s internal attack barriers with U. S. -supplied aircraft and disorganized the Russians. They were also filmed exploiting a Russian counterattack.
The goal is to move the fighting – as well as Russian infantrymen and weapons – to Russian territory and ease the tension of Moscow’s offensive in eastern Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official said. He asked not to be identified because Ukraine has not declared that its infantrymen were fighting in Russia.
“We are at war,” he referred to the movements in enemy territory. “Why can Russia do it and we can’t?”
So far, the attack has been carried out “much more successfully” than cross-border incursions, the senior Ukrainian official said.
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