As Russian forces mounted counter-attacks across the Kursk front line, Mr Zelensky said he was once more imploring Western allies to be allowed to use long-range missiles deep inside Russia…reports Asian Lite News
Volodymyr Zelensky has piled pressure on Britain to allow missile strikes deep inside Russia as he claimed his army’s cross-border attack could oust Vladimir Putin. By Monday evening, Ukrainian forces were in control of around 1,000 square kilometres of Kursk, a border region in southern Russia, according to Kyiv’s top general.
The stunning cross-border attack marks the first foreign invasion of Russian soil since the Second World War. Zelensky said that the “Kursk disaster” 24 years ago, in which 118 Russian sailors died in a submarine accident, marked the start of Putin’s rule.
“And now it is clear this is the end for him,” he continued. “And it is also Kursk.”
The Ukrainian president ordered the preparation of a “humanitarian plan” for Russian citizens in Ukrainian-controlled Kursk, as his forces started building field hospitals and fortifications in preparation for an occupation of the area.
In his first comments on the assault, Putin vowed to drive Ukraine off Russian land.
“The task before the ministry of defence is to squeeze out, drive the enemy out of our territories and, together with the border service, ensure reliable coverage of the state borders,” he said in a meeting with his security chiefs in the Kremlin.
As Russian forces mounted counter-attacks across the Kursk front line, Mr Zelensky said he was once more imploring Western allies to be allowed to use long-range missiles deep inside Russia.
He said he had instructed defence officials and diplomats to “present a list of necessary actions on our part to obtain permission from our partners to use long-range weapons to defend our territory”. During a UK visit last month, Zelensky lobbied Starmer to lift restrictions on how the munition, which has a range of about 250 kilometres, is used.
Ukraine wants to strike airfields and logistics hubs far beyond the front line that Moscow is using to reinforce its position in Kursk. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former British tank commander, said Storm Shadow missiles would be able to strike “rail heads and key roads coming into Kursk, plus any airfields within 100 miles”.
“Putin is rattled and this would show the West is fully committed to Ukraine, which has not been apparent hitherto,” he added.
The position on how Storm Shadow missiles are used is not just the UK Government’s to make, since the missile is manufactured with France, meaning Paris also has a say on conditions. Kyiv has also asked Washington for permission to use its Atacms long-range missile during the Kursk offensive, but that has so far also been refused.
Putin appeared frustrated as he addressed his top brass in a publicly broadcast meeting in the Kremlin. “The West is fighting us with the hands of Ukrainians,” he told officials including Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s top general, Viktor Zolotov, the head of Russia’s National Guard, and Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB security services.
“Apparently, the enemy is striving to improve its negotiating positions in the future. But what kind of negotiations? How do we even talk with people who indiscriminately strike at civilians, at civilian infrastructure and try to create threats to nuclear energy? What can we even talk about with them?” he said.
In the meeting, Alexei Smirnov, Kursk’s regional governor, told the Russian president that Ukraine now controlled at least 28 villages and towns in the area.
He said at least 12 people had died in the offensive and that 121,000 citizens had fled their homes, and 59,000 more were likely to be displaced. The lightning offensive by Ukrainian forces was difficult for Russian forces to repel because there were no clearly defined front lines, Smirnov added.