KYIV: Russian officials said Wednesday they were fighting off Ukrainian cross-border raids in a southwestern border province for a second day, as Kyiv officials remained quiet about the scope of the operation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the incursion into the south-western Kursk region as a “large-scale provocation” and said he will hold a meeting with top defense and security officials to discuss the situation.
“The Kyiv regime has undertaken another large-scale provocation and launched indiscriminate shelling of civilian buildings, residential houses, ambulances with different types of weapons,” Putin said at a meeting with Cabinet officials. He instructed the Cabinet to coordinate assistance to the Kursk region.
The head of the Kursk region urged residents to donate blood due to the intense fighting.
“In the last 24 hours, our region has been heroically resisting attacks” by Ukrainian fighters, acting governor Alexei Smirnov said on Telegram, adding that all emergency services were on high alert.
If confirmed, the alleged cross-border foray could draw Russian reserves to the area, weakening Moscow’s offensive operations in several parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region where Russian forces have increased attacks to make the most of the summer fighting season.
But it could risk stretching outmanned Ukrainian troops further along the front line, which is more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) long.
Russian forces have swiftly repelled previous cross-border incursions, but not before they caused damage and embarrassed authorities.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that up to 300 Ukrainian troops, supported by 11 tanks and more than 20 armored combat vehicles, had crossed into Russia and suffered heavy losses.
It said Wednesday that military and border guard troops “continued to destroy Ukrainian military units in the areas alongside the border in the Kursk region.”
The ministry said Russian forces backed by artillery and warplanes “didn’t allow the enemy to advance deeper into the territory of the Russian Federation.”
Ukrainian officials declined to comment, and it wasn’t possible to verify the Russian claims.
Open-source monitors have not been able to verify the claims. The US-based Institute for the Study of War could not verify whether geolocated footage of damaged and abandoned armored vehicles 7 kilometers (4 miles) north of the border west of Lyubimovka, in the Kursk region, were Ukrainian.
The think tank also cast doubt on footage shared by Russian military bloggers claiming to show the aftermath of the Ukrainian raids. Most of the damage shown “appears to be the result of routine Ukrainian shelling and does not indicate that there was ground activity in the area,” it said in its daily report.
Responsibility for previous incursions into Russia’s Belgorod and Bryansk regions have been claimed by two murky groups: the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion, which are made up of Russian citizens and have fought alongside Ukrainian forces.
Disinformation and propaganda have played a central role in the war, now in its third year.
Some Russian war bloggers who have proved knowledgeable about the war said that Ukrainian soldiers were in Kursk.
Rybar, a Telegram channel run by Mikhail Zvinchuk, a retired Russian Defense Ministry press officer, said Ukrainian troops had seized three settlements in the region and continued to fight their way deeper into it.
Another pro-Kremlin military blog, Two Majors, claimed that Ukrainian troops had advanced up to 15 kilometers into the region.
Neither claim could be independently verified.
The Kursk region’s border with Ukraine is 245 kilometers (150 miles) long, making it possible for saboteur groups to launch swift incursions and capture some ground before Russia deploys reinforcements.
Russian officials say they are fighting off a Ukrainian military incursion for a second day
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Russian officials say they are fighting off a Ukrainian military incursion for a second day
- Russian President Vladimir Putin described the incursion into the south-western Kursk region as a “large-scale provocation”
- “The Kyiv regime has undertaken another large-scale provocation and launched indiscriminate shelling of civilian buildings,” Putin said at a meeting with Cabinet officials
2 people were killed in a knife attack in Germany and a suspect has been detained, police say
Train services in the town were temporarily interrupted
BERLIN: Two people, including a child, were killed and two others were severely injured in a stabbing attack in Bavaria on Wednesday, German police said.
Police said a suspect was detained in the knife attack, which occurred in a park in the southern German town of Aschaffenburg.
Police said they did not immediately know the motive for the attack, but that it was not terrorism.
Train services in the town were temporarily interrupted as the suspect tried to flee along the tracks, German news agency dpa reported. However, he was quickly detained, police wrote on the social media platform X.
Police asked possible witnesses to come forward. They did not release any details about the identities of the victims or the suspect.
Macron says Europe must protect sovereignty in face of Trump’s return
- Macron made the remarks at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
PARIS: More than ever, Europeans, including France and Germany, must protect their sovereignty in the face of the return of US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday.
He made the remarks at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris, adding that it was important to support the automobile, steel, chemical sectors, among others.
“After the inauguration of a new administration in the United States, it is necessary more than ever for Europeans and for our two countries to play their role of consolidating a united, strong and sovereign Europe,” Macron said.
Malaysia’s Anwar says don’t single out China in sea tensions
- There will always be border disputes in Asia, and China should not be singled out because of tensions in the South China Sea, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Wednesday
DAVOS: There will always be border disputes in Asia, and China should not be singled out because of tensions in the South China Sea, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Wednesday.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Anwar said that Malaysia had border issues with Singapore and its other neighbors in Southeast Asia but they still managed to cultivate good relations.
While Malaysia also has maritime issues with China, it will push ahead with improving ties because it is an important country, he said.
“We have excellent relationship with Singapore. We still have border issues with them,” Anwar said.
“I treat the Thais as my family members, the leaders, but still we have some border issues with them. So it is with Indonesia, with the Philippines.
“(But) we don’t go to war, we don’t threaten. We do discuss. We get a bit... angry, but we do focus on the economic fundamentals and move on,” he added.
“Why is it that we must then single out China as an issue?” Anwar asked.
“That’s my only contention. Do I have an issue about it? Yes, but do I have a problem? No. Do we have any undesired tensions? No,” he said.
He said that while Malaysia has strong ties with the United States, China is an important neighbor that it must also engage with.
“Of course, people highlight the issue of the South China Sea... But may I remind you that Malaysia is a maritime country,” he said.
China has been “very reasonable” in dealing with Malaysia, Anwar added.
“They take us seriously, more seriously than many of the countries of our old allies and friends,” he said, without mentioning any country.
China has ruffled diplomatic feathers in Southeast Asia because of its assertion that it owns most of the strategic waterway despite an international ruling that the claim has no legal basis.
This has pitted it against Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, which have partial claims to the sea.
In recent years, China and the Philippines have seen an escalation of confrontations, including boat-ramming incidents and Chinese ships firing water cannons on Filipino vessels.
The clashes have sparked concern they could draw the United States, Manila’s long-time security ally, into armed conflict with China.
Washington’s UN nominee supports Israeli biblical claim to West Bank
- ‘It’s going to be very difficult to achieve peace if you continue to hold the view that you just expressed,’ senator tells Elise Stefanik
- Republican congresswoman for New York accuses international body of being ‘cesspool of antisemitism’
LONDON: The new US nominee for UN ambassador has backed Israeli biblical claims to the entire West Bank.
Elise Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman for New York, was being questioned on her stance by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen during a Senate confirmation hearing.
“You told me that, yes, you shared that view,” Van Hollen said. “Is that your view today?” Stefanik said: “Yes.”
Her stance is at odds with international law, multiple UN Security Council resolutions, and a longstanding international consensus on the issue.
“It’s going to be very difficult to achieve peace if you continue to hold the view that you just expressed,” Van Hollen said.
During the hearing, Stefanik criticized the UN for its alleged anti-Israel bias, claiming that the organization is a “cesspool of antisemitism.”
She said: “Our tax dollars should not be complicit in propping up entities that are counter to American interests, antisemitic, or engaging in fraud, corruption or terrorism.”
The US is the largest funder of the UN and houses its secretariat in New York City. Washington pays about 22 percent of the UN’s regular budget.
India and US trying to arrange Modi meeting with Trump next month, sources say
- Washington sees India as a strategic partner of the United States in its efforts to counter its rival China
- Trump’s return to office has raised worries among officials in New Delhi about imposition of tariffs on India
NEW DELHI: Indian and US diplomats are trying to arrange a meeting in February between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump in Washington, two Indian sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters.
India, a strategic partner of the United States in its efforts to counter China, is keen to enhance trade relations with the US and make it easier for its citizens to get skilled worker visas, two topics that will be on the agenda if the leaders meet, the sources said.
Trump’s return to the White House has raised worries among officials in New Delhi about imposition of tariffs on India, which he has listed as one of the countries that has high tariffs on US products and has indicated that he favored reciprocating them.
But the sources said New Delhi was willing to offer some concessions to Washington — although it has not been officially informed of any plans by US to impose reciprocal tariffs — and was also open to offering incentives to attract more US investment in India.
Officials hope that an early meeting between the pair will help get ties off to a positive start in Trump’s new term, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Trump visited India in February 2020 during his previous term in office. Then, he was cheered by more than 100,000 Indians at a cricket stadium in Modi’s political homeland in Ahmedabad, where he promised India “an incredible trade deal.”
In 2019, Trump held a “Howdy Modi” rally with Modi in Houston, drawing 50,000 people, mainly Indian Americans.
Laying the groundwork for a new Modi-Trump meeting is also on the agenda of Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who attended Trump’s inauguration on Monday and met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The United States is India’s largest trading partner and two-way trade between the two countries surpassed $118 billion in 2023/24, with India posting a trade surplus of $32 billion.
Other topics of discussion between the two leaders would be enhancing partnership in technology and defense sectors, the sources said.
Migration would be another area of discussion, as Trump has pledged a crackdown on illegal immigration but has said he is open to legal migration of skilled workers.
India, known for its massive pool of IT professionals, many of whom work across the world, accounts for the bulk of the skilled worker H-1B visas issued by the United States.
Rubio discussed with Jaishankar concerns related to “irregular migration” on Tuesday, the US State Department said.
