KYIV, Ukraine, 27 aug (AP) \u2014 The chief of Ukraine\u2019s army said Tuesday that the country\u2019s troops have gained control of nearly 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of Russia\u2019s Kursk region since their surprise incursion three weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi also said that Ukraine has captured 594 Russian prisoners in its operation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe enemy drags troops from other directions, in such way weakening them. They attempt to create a ring of defense around our offensive group of troops and plan counteroffensive actions,\u201d Syrskyi said, commenting on the situation in the Kursk region. The seized territory is roughly the size of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
His claim, which could not be independently confirmed, came hours after Ukraine endured a second consecutive barrage of nighttime air and missile attacks from Russia.<\/p>\n
Five people were reported killed and 16 injured in the attacks, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said included 81 drones, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles. He said four people died, but the governor of the Zaporizhzhia region later said a fifth person had died there from burns in the attacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will undoubtedly respond to Russia for this and all other attacks. Crimes against humanity cannot go unpunished.\u201d Zelenskyy wrote on X.<\/p>\n
The Kursk operation, the largest incursion into Russia since World War II, forced some 130,000 residents to evacuate their homes. Russia has sent reinforcements into the region, but it was not clear to what extent these movements might be weakening Russia\u2019s position in eastern Ukraine, where it was making slow advances in efforts to gain ground in the Kharkiv region.<\/p>\n
The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that Ukraine has suffered heavy casualties in Kursk \u2014 some 6,600 troops either killed or injured \u2014 and that more than 70 tanks have been destroyed along with scores of armored vehicles. Those figures could not be independently confirmed.<\/p>\n
In the Kyiv region, which had struggled with blackouts after Monday\u2019s onslaught that targeted energy facilities throughout the country, five air alerts were called during the night. The regional administration said air defenses destroyed all the drones and missiles but that falling debris set off forest fires.<\/p>\n
After Monday\u2019s barrage across Ukraine of more than 100 missiles and a similar number of drones, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said \u201cthe energy infrastructure has once again become the target of Russian terrorists\u201d and urged Ukraine\u2019s allies to provide it with long-range weapons and permission to use them on targets inside Russia.<\/p>\n
President Joe Biden called Monday\u2019s Russian attack on energy infrastructure \u201coutrageous\u201d and said he had \u201creprioritized U.S. air defense exports so they are sent to Ukraine first.\u201d He also said the U.S. was \u201csurging energy equipment to Ukraine to repair its systems and strengthen the resilience of Ukraine\u2019s energy grid.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Russian Defense Ministry said the attacks used \u201clong-range precision air- and sea-based weapons and strike drones against critical energy infrastructure facilities that support the operation of Ukraine\u2019s military-industrial complex. All designated targets were hit.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Russia, meanwhile, officials reported four Ukrainian missiles were shot down over the Kursk region.<\/p>\n
The fighting in the region has raised concerns about the nuclear power plant there. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi arrived inspected the plant on Tuesday, but did not immediately give a public assessment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV, Ukraine, 27 aug (AP) \u2014 The chief of Ukraine\u2019s army said Tuesday that the country\u2019s troops have gained control of nearly 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of Russia\u2019s Kursk region since their surprise incursion three weeks ago. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi also said that Ukraine has captured 594 Russian prisoners in its operation. \u201cThe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-247276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}