War in Ukraine: Donald Trump's reaction, foiled attack in Kursk, incursion into Russia… an update on the situation

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Tuesday, August 13, 2024, discover the latest news about this conflict.

Russia launched airstrike on Ukraine overnight

Russia launched 38 attack drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles against Ukraine overnight Monday into Tuesday, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Tuesday.

Thirty drones were destroyed over eight Ukrainian regions, the military said on the Telegram messaging app, without providing further details. Since the beginning of the war, Russia has increased its drone and missile strikes, targeting Ukraine's vital infrastructure in particular, seriously damaging the electricity grid.

The latest attack comes as Moscow has vowed to retaliate for the ongoing Ukrainian military incursion into Russia's Kursk region. Authorities in Ukraine's Sumy region, which borders Kursk, reported one person injured after the overnight attack.

A power line and a gas pipeline were also damaged, as were a hospital and several vehicles, they added. Attacks were also reported in the regions of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, Vinnytsia in central Ukraine and Mykolaiv in the south, causing some material damage but no casualties, according to the respective regional authorities.

Ukrainian incursion in Kursk

Ukraine claims control of 74 localities in Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday claimed control of 74 towns in Russian territory, where his forces launched a surprise offensive last week that has forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee.

“Despite tough and intense fighting, the advance of our forces in the Kursk region continues. There are 74 towns under Ukrainian control,”, Zelensky said on Telegram.

Biden says Ukraine's offensive in Russia creates “a real dilemma,” for Putin

The Ukrainian offensive in Russia “creates a real dilemma for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin”, Joe Biden said Tuesday, speaking publicly on the subject for the first time.

The American president, on a trip to New Orleans (Louisiana, south) indicated that he had been talking with his team “every four or five hours for the past six to eight days” on this subject, and assured that the United States, Kiev's primary military supporter, was “in constant communication with the Ukrainians.”

Ukrainian troops have advanced 800 km² into Russian territory

Ukrainian troops have advanced 800 km² into Russian territory Russian region of Kursk, according to Russian sources relayed by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and analyzed Tuesday by AFP.

Ukraine claimed control of 1,000 km2 of Russian territory in the border region on Monday, where its forces are still on the offensive after launching a major surprise attack on August 6.

Kiev says it does not want to annex Russian territory

Ukraine is not seeking to "annex" Russian territory, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhiy said Tuesday, referring to the military operations underway for the past week in the region. Russian Kursk region.

"Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need other people's property. Ukraine does not want to annex any territory in the Kursk region, but it wants to protect the lives of its people,", the diplomat said at a press conference.

kyiv says it does not want to occupy Russian territory but to “complicate” Moscow's operations

The Ukrainian government said on Tuesday that the cross-border attack in Russia's Kursk region, the Ukrainian military's biggest breakthrough since the war began in February 2022, would prevent Moscow from sending additional troops to the front lines in eastern Ukraine.

kyiv, which claims control of an area of ​​1,000 square kilometers as part of the surprise cross-border operation launched last week in the Kursk region, says it has no desire to ;#39;occupy Russian territory. Over the past twenty-four hours, Ukrainian troops have advanced 40 square kilometers, according to the Army General Staff.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said separately during the day that the Ukrainian army now controlled 74 settlements in the Kursk region. "Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need other people's property. Ukraine is not interested in taking territory in the Kursk region", a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said. "We want to protect the lives of our population (…) The operation helps on the front lines because it does not allow Russia to transfer additional units in the (Ukrainian) Donetsk region, complicating its military logistics", added Heorhi Tykhy.

Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said that the Ukrainian military has taken control of areas in the Kursk region that Russia has used to carry out more than 2,000 cross-border strikes against Ukraine since June. Moscow has been trying to advance in different parts of the Donetsk region for months, taking advantage of its superior numbers to Ukrainian troops to make gains in strategic cities such as Pokrovsk, which serves as a logistics hub for Kiev.

The Ukrainian military on Tuesday imposed restrictions on the movement of civilians in a 20-kilometer border zone in the northeast of the country, citing an "intensification of hostilities" and the presence of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups. According to the interim governor of the Kursk region, the Ukrainian army controlled 28 settlements on Monday after an incursion of about 12 kilometers into Russian territory.

While Moscow denies the extent of the gains claimed by Kiev with this incursion, these comments constitute a surprising public admission of a setback for Russia since the launch in February 2022 of what it presented as a “special military operation” in Ukraine. kyiv and its allies denounce an invasion.