Zelensky says Ukraine takes control of Russian town of Sudzha as Kyiv forces advance

CNN
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces had taken control of the Russian city of Sudzha, more than a week after his forces launched a cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

Kyiv’s forces have been in the town, 105 kilometres (65 miles) southwest of the city of Kursk, since last Wednesday, but this is the first confirmation from the Ukrainian president that his army has taken control of it.

Ukrainian military commander Oleksandr Syrsky said Ukrainian forces had advanced 35 kilometres (21.7 miles) through Russian defences since the start of their surprise offensive, capturing 1,150 square kilometres (400 square miles) of territory and 82 settlements.

A military commander’s office has been established in Sudza “to maintain law and order and meet the priority needs of the population in the controlled territory,” Syrski said.

Sudzha is located next to a Russian gas terminal, a key point for gas supplies from Russia via Ukraine to Europe. This has raised speculation that one of Kyiv’s goals may be to cut off a lucrative source of funding for Moscow.

The Ukrainian ground incursion has forced tens of thousands of Russians from their homes and put Russia on the defensive as it struggles to hold off Kyiv’s forces.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian drones targeted four Russian airports in the largest such attack of the war. A source in the Ukrainian Security Service told CNN that the attack targeted four bases in the Kursk and Voronezh regions in the southwest, and Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it destroyed 117 drones and four tactical missiles over Kursk and nearby areas.

The Ukrainian offensive — a major embarrassment for the Kremlin — represents a marked change in tactics for Kiev, and marks the first time foreign forces have entered Russian territory since World War II.

Russia has pulled back its reserves from key combat zones in Ukraine and Russian-occupied Crimea to fend off Kyiv’s advance, a Ukrainian military commander told CNN on Wednesday.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced in an update published on Telegram on Thursday that it had retaken the first village from Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region – the settlement of Kropets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed on Monday to “drive the enemy out” of Russia after it emerged that dozens of Russian villages were under Ukrainian control.

Meanwhile, Ukraine continues its struggle along the eastern front, where Russian forces have been making gradual gains for months. Ukraine reported the heaviest fighting in weeks near the eastern city of Pokrovsk on Thursday. Serhiy Dobriak, head of the Pokrovsk military administration, wrote on Telegram that the enemy was “very close to our community” and just over 6 miles (10 km) from the city.

Dubriak urged all citizens to “evacuate without delay.”