Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia needed to “feel” the consequences of its war in the country.

Pro-Kyiv forces stormed into Russia’s southwestern Kursk region on Tuesday morning, deploying around 1,000 troops and more than two dozen armoured vehicles and tanks, according to the Russian army.

It appears to be the most significant Ukrainian attack into Russia since the war began, with independent analysts suggesting Kyiv’s troops had advanced up to 10 kilometres into Russia.

“Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done,” Zelensky said in his address on Thursday night, without directly referring to the offensive.

“Ukrainians know how to achieve their goals. And we did not choose to achieve our goals in the war,” he added.

Russia’s defence ministry, on Thursday, said its troops were “continuing to destroy” armed Ukrainian units and were using air strikes, rocket, and artillery fire to try to push them back.

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It said it had rushed in reserves and was “thwarting attempts to break through” deeper into the Kursk region.

The independent United States-based Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine had made significant territorial gains in the first two days of the incursion.

It said in its latest update: “Ukrainian forces have made confirmed advances up to 10 kilometres (six miles) into Russia’s Kursk Oblast amid continued mechanised offensive operations on Russian territory.

“The current confirmed extent and location of Ukrainian advances in Kursk Oblast indicate that Ukrainian forces have penetrated at least two Russian defensive lines and a stronghold.”

Kyiv has not officially taken responsibility for the operation, but an aide to Zelensky said Moscow was to blame for the incursion.

“The root cause of any escalation, shelling, military actions, forced evacuations and destruction of normal life forms – including within the Russian Federation’s own territories like Kursk and Belgorod regions – is solely Russia’s unequivocal aggression,” presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said on social media on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called it a “large-scale provocation” by Kyiv and Russia’s top general vowed on Wednesday to crush the incursion.

The U.S. State Department expressed support for Kyiv without directly commenting on the operation, according to AFP.

The surprise attack appeared to catch Russia’s army off guard, triggering criticism of its top brass by the country’s influential military bloggers.

The Ukrainian advance has centred on the logistical hub of Sudzha, a town of around 5,000 inhabitants located eight kilometres from the Ukrainian border.

Russian military bloggers, who have links to the army, also reported on Thursday that Kyiv had made significant advances.

The Star