Russia says it repelled Ukrainian advances

MOSCOW — Russia said on Wednesday it had repelled attempts by Ukrainian forces to push deeper into the western Kursk region in five areas, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his forces were advancing.

"The attempts by enemy mobile units using armored equipment to break through deeper into Russian territory have been repelled," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Thousands of Ukrainian troops rammed through the Russian border in the early hours of Aug 6 into Kursk in what President Vladimir Putin said was a major provocation that was aimed at gaining a stronger hand in possible future cease-fire talks.

Russia's air defenses destroyed 117 drones and four tactical missiles launched overnight by Ukraine targeting several regions including Kursk, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

The missiles and 37 drones were destroyed over Kursk, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, while 37 drones were destroyed over the Voronezh region, among others. The ministry did not give a total of air weapons that Ukraine launched.

Unconfirmed reports said some of the Ukrainian drones struck Russian air bases. Russia's National Guard said it was beefing up security at the Kursk nuclear power plant that is just 35 kilometers from the fighting.

Russian commanders said the front in Kursk had stabilized, though Zelensky said his forces were continuing to advance there and ordered his generals to develop the next "key steps" in the operation.

'Poking the bear'

Russian lawmaker Maria Butina said on Wednesday that the West was involved in the Ukrainian incursion into sovereign Russian territory and was thus "poking the bear" in a dangerous escalation.

The United States and other Western backers of Ukraine have denied that they were informed beforehand of the dramatic attack on Kursk.

"Of course they are involved," Butina told Reuters when asked if the West was involved. "When I studied in the United States, the main rule was: 'Don't poke the bear'. What the West is doing today? They are poking the bear."

Butina said the attack on Russia was an act of "international terrorism" as civilian infrastructure had been attacked.

"They try to make a PR act on blood, using military force and terrorism and that is not the way to negotiate," Butina said.

"Our response should be in the military field, which means today to force the Ukrainian forces out and to put responsibility on those who are really responsible for forcing and escalating this conflict — this is the West."

Agencies via Xinhua