Russian forces thwart Ukraine’s cross-border attack attempt | News, Sports, Jobs

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces thwarted Ukraine’s attempted new cross-border attack on southwestern Russia, a local official said Sunday, months after Kiev launched a bold offensive against its nuclear-armed foe that Moscow is still trying to stop. reported. .

Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said an “armed group” wanted to cross the border between Ukraine and Russia’s Bryansk region on Sunday but was turned back. Bogomaz did not say whether Ukrainian soldiers carried out the alleged attack, but claimed Sunday evening that the situation was “stable and under control of the Russian military.”

There has been no confirmation or response from Ukrainian officials yet.

The region’s neighboring Kursk province shook the Kremlin with the surprise attack launched by Ukraine on August 6, constituting the biggest attack on Russia since the Second World War. In the first moments of the lightning advance, hundreds of Russian prisoners were blindfolded and taken away in trucks, and Ukraine’s battle-hardened units advanced rapidly across hundreds of square miles (square kilometers) of territory.

Responsibility for previous attacks on the Belgorod and Bryansk regions of Russia was claimed by two shadowy groups: the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Russian Legion of Freedom.

Russian officials and state media have tried to downplay the significance of Kiev’s violent offensive in Kursk, but the country’s forces have so far failed to remove Ukrainian troops from the province. Western officials have predicted that Moscow could send troops from North Korea to support its efforts, which could fuel the nearly three-year war and extend geopolitical ramifications as far afield as the Indo-Pacific region.

Russian lawmakers on Thursday approved an agreement with Pyongyang stipulating mutual military assistance after the United States approved the deployment of 3,000 North Korean troops to Russia.

According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, known by its acronym GUR, North Korean units were detected in Kursk on Wednesday. GUR said late Thursday that soldiers had been training for several weeks at bases in eastern Russia and were equipped with clothing for the coming winter. He could not provide evidence for his claims.

Moscow warns West not to approve long-range strikes against Russia

Also Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was working on ways to respond if the United States and its NATO allies allow Ukraine to attack deep into Russia with long-range Western missiles.

Putin told Russian state television that it was too early to say exactly how Moscow would react, but that the defense ministry was considering a range of options.

Russia has repeatedly signaled that it will view such attacks as a major escalation. The Kremlin leader warned on September 12 that Moscow would be “at war” with the US and NATO states if they ratified them, claiming that the military infrastructure and the bloc’s personnel would need to be involved in targeting and firing the missiles.

He reinforced the message by unveiling a new version of the nuclear doctrine that treats a conventional attack on Russia by a non-nuclear nation, backed by a nuclear power, as a concerted attack on its own country; A clear warning to the United States and other allies. Kyiv.

Putin also explained that the revised document foresees the possible use of nuclear weapons in the event of a major air strike, opening the door to a possible nuclear response to any air strike; This is an uncertainty aimed at deterring the West.

Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly said they need permission to strike weapons depots, airports and military bases far from the border to motivate Russia to seek peace. In response, US defense officials argued that the number of missiles was limited and that Ukraine was already using its own long-range drones to strike targets further into Russia.

This capability was demonstrated by a Ukrainian drone strike in mid-September that hit a large Russian military depot in a town 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the border.

To counter attacks by Russian forces, the United States is allowing Kiev to use American-supplied weapons in more limited, cross-border attacks.

Civilian deaths reported during drone strikes by warring parties in Kherson

In a separate update, Bryansk Governor Bogomaz claimed that more than a dozen Ukrainian drones were shot down in the region on Sunday. Officials also reported that a total of at least 16 drones were shot down over other parts of Russia, including Tambov province, about 450 kilometers (290 miles) north of the border. No casualties were reported in the alleged attacks.

Local Governor Oleksandr Prokudin claimed that three civilians were killed in Russian shelling in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Sunday. According to the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a Kherson resident died in a fire caused by artillery shells hitting a higher building.

Air raid sirens sounded for more than three hours in Kiev by Sunday, and city officials later reported that “about 10” drones had been shot down. They said no one was injured. Ukraine’s air force reported Sunday that it shot down 41 UAVs launched by Russia over Ukrainian territory.