Russia declared a “federal-level” state of emergency in the Kursk region and sent reinforcements there on Friday (9/8), four days after hundreds of Ukrainian troops stormed the border in the biggest Ukrainian offensive on Russian territory since the war began.
Meanwhile, authorities said at least 10 people were killed and 35 others injured when a missile launched by a Russian aircraft hit a shopping mall in Donetsk, Ukraine, during the day.
The shopping center is located in a residential area of Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. Thick black smoke billowed above it after the attack.
“This is another targeted attack on a crowded place, another act of terror by Russia,” Donetsk region head Vadym Filashkin said in a post on Telegram.
The Russian Defense Ministry said reinforcements were on their way to the Kursk region to counter a daring cross-border attack by Ukrainian forces. Russia deployed multiple rocket launchers, towed artillery guns, tanks on trailers and tracked heavy vehicles, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported, citing the Defense Ministry.
“The operational situation in the Kursk region remains difficult,” Kursk acting governor Alexei Smirnov said on Telegram.
Social service workers and civil associations are providing assistance to residents forced to leave their homes due to the fighting, he said. The number of evacuated Kursk residents, according to the latest figures, reached 3,000.
There is little reliable information about the surprise Ukrainian operation, whose strategic objectives are unclear. Ukrainian officials have declined to comment specifically on the attack, which took place about 500 kilometers (310 miles) southwest of Moscow.
But a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that the border offensive would cause Russia to “begin to realize that the war is slowly creeping into Russian territory.” Myhailo Podolyak also suggested that the cross-border operation would improve Kyiv’s position, should talks with Moscow take place.
The attack comes as Ukrainian troops struggle to hold off an intensifying Russian assault on frontline positions in eastern Ukraine, particularly in the Donetsk region. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he wants to seize other parts of Donetsk not yet held by Kremlin forces.
Meanwhile, Russia also declared a federal state of emergency if there were more than 500 victims in its territory or damage exceeding 500 million rubles (about $6 million).
The Battle of Kursk has received extensive attention in the Russian media, on news websites and state television channels.
State TV channel Rossiya-1 aired the first 10 minutes of its 11 a.m. newscast Friday to discuss various aspects of the situation. There were no reports from the front lines, but the newscast began with a video from the Russian Defense Ministry purportedly showing the destruction of Ukrainian military vehicles and howitzers.
Most of the coverage is about the humanitarian situation, children being taken to shelters by bus, people in other regions collecting food and diapers and other supplies to send to Kursk.
The Institute for the Study of Wara Washington-based think tank, said Ukrainian forces had continued their “rapid advance” deeper into the Kursk region, reportedly up to 35 kilometers beyond the border.
“The lack of a coherent Russian response to the Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region … and reports of the pace of Ukrainian advances, suggest that Ukrainian forces are capable of operational surprise,” the Washington-based ISW said late Thursday.
A Russian Defense Ministry statement on Friday said only that the military “continues to repel the invasion attempts” and is responding with air strikes, artillery and ground troops.
Ukraine also continues its strategy of attacking rear areas with long-range drones, targeting military sites, oil refineries and other infrastructure.
Ukrainian drones also struck Russia's Lipetsk region, which is about 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the Ukrainian border late Thursday, authorities said.
Drones operated by Ukraine's Security Service struck a military airfield there, a security official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
“The airfield is a base for fighter jets and helicopters and more than 700 powerful glide bombs are stored there,” the source said.
The Ukrainian Army also confirmed the attack on the Lipetsk-2 airfield on Friday morning, saying the airfield was used as a base for several Su-34, Su-35 and MiG-31 fighter jets.
The Russian Defense Ministry said at least 75 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight, 19 of them over the city of Lipetsk. (es/pp)
