Putin vows ‘worthy response’ after Ukraine says it controls large portion of Russia’s Kursk region
Russia on Monday evacuated civilians from parts of a second region next to Ukraine after Kyiv increased military activity near the border, just days after its biggest incursion into sovereign Russian territory since the start of the 2022 war.
Ukrainian forces rammed through the Russian border on Aug. 6 and swept across some western parts of Russia’s Kursk region, a surprise attack that may be aimed at gaining leverage in possible ceasefire talks after the U.S. election in November.
Apparently caught by surprise, Russia by Sunday had stabilized the front in the Kursk region, though Ukraine had carved out a sliver of Russian territory where battles were continuing on Monday, according to Russian war bloggers.
In the neighbouring Belgorod region to the south, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said evacuations had begun from the Krasnaya Yaruga district due to “enemy activity on the border.”
“I am sure that our servicemen will do everything to cope with the threat that has arisen,” Gladkov said. “We are starting to move people who live in the Krasnaya Yaruga district to safer places.”
Russia has imposed tight security in the Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions, while its ally Belarus said it was bolstering its troop numbers at its border after Minsk said Ukraine had violated its airspace with drones.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Ukraine was trying to improve its negotiating position ahead of potential ceasefire talks in the future with its attack on Kursk. He also said Moscow would respond to Kyiv’s attack.
For the first time since the Russian invasion, Ukraine has launched a major incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. Andrew Chang explores three theories about the strategy behind carrying out the attack during a manpower crisis — and what it stands to gain.
“The losses of the Ukrainian armed forces are increasing dramatically for them, including among the most combat-ready units, units that the enemy is transferring to our border,” Putin told a televised meeting with top security officials and regional governors.
“The enemy will certainly receive a worthy response, and all the goals facing us will, without a doubt, be achieved.”
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and now controls 18 per cent of Ukrainian territory. Russian forces, which have a vast numerical supremacy, have been advancing this year along the 1,000-kilometre front after the failure of Ukraine’s 2023 counteroffensive to make any major gains.
Kyiv broke its silence on the attacks on Saturday when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had launched an incursion into Russian territory to “restore justice” and pressure Moscow’s forces.
Ukraine’s army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Monday that Kyiv controls around 1,000 square kilometres of Kursk, in his first comments on the shock cross-border incursion.
Zelenskyy, who published a video excerpt of Syrskyi’s report on Telegram on Monday, said he ordered the preparation of a “humanitarian plan” for the area.
‘Reckless attacks’ on nuclear plant
At the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, in a part of Ukraine controlled by Russian forces, a major fire broke out. Russia and Ukraine accused each other of starting it, though both sides reported no sign of elevated radiation.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog said its staff had seen thick, dark smoke coming from the northern part of the vast six-reactor plant in southern Ukraine, currently in “cold shutdown” after multiple blasts.
WATCH l UN atomic agency head concerned about latest Zaporizhzhia incident:
Moscow and Kyiv are accusing each other of starting a fire on the grounds of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, Russia has evacuated civilians from parts of a second region next to Ukraine after Kyiv increased military activity near the border.
“These reckless attacks endanger nuclear safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident. They must stop now,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned in a separate statement, without attributing blame.
Interfax news agency quoted Alexei Likhachev, head of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, as saying the fire had burned for about three hours and caused “very serious damage” to the cooling towers.
He said, without providing evidence, that it had been caused by two Ukrainian drone strikes. It was not clear whether the damage could be repaired or whether one of the towers might need to be replaced, he added.
Ukraine’s nuclear power company Energoatom said in a statement that one of the cooling towers and other equipment were damaged. Grossi said the IAEA had requested “immediate access” to the tower to assess the damage. There was no immediate response from Moscow or Kyiv to Grossi’s statement.
Russia captured the plant from Ukraine shortly after launching a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour in February 2022.
Published at Mon, 12 Aug 2024 15:51:08 +0000
Greece’s worst wildfire this year reaches edge of Athens
A fast-moving wildfire fuelled by searing summer heat and strong winds spread to the edge of Athens on Monday, torching trees, houses and cars and forcing the evacuations of more than 25 towns and villages, Greek authorities said.
Almost 700 firefighters backed by volunteers, 190 fire engines and 33 water-bombing aircraft battled the conflagration that broke out at 3 p.m. local time on Sunday near Varnavas, 35 kilometres north of Athens.
By Monday the fire, the worst in Greece this year, had advanced to the fringes of the capital’s densely populated northern suburbs around the heavily wooded Mount Penteli, sending columns of smoke into the air across the horizon.
There were so far no reports of deaths.
Thirteen people were treated by rescuers and medical staff for smoke inhalation and two firefighters for burns, fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said.
3 hospitals evacuated
At least 25 areas were forced to evacuate residents, government officials said, along with at least three hospitals, and power cuts occurred in parts of the wider Athens region.
Police had so far helped evacuate more than 250 people, and some residents spent the night in shelters.
Fire crews in Vrilissia, a suburb of Athens, struggled Monday with a fire fuelled by strong winds and heat.
Summers in Greece have long been marked by wildfires, but hotter, drier weather linked to climate change has made blazes more frequent and intense. Wildfires fanned by extreme heat have also raged this month in parts of Spain and the Balkans.
SEE | Scenes of wildfire near Athens:
As a phalanx of flames closed in on backyards on the outskirts of Athens, some residents in Penteli stayed put, trying to put out pockets of fire using hoses or tree branches as smoke swirled around them.
“It hurts, we have grown up in the forest, we feel great sadness and anger,” said 24-year-old resident Marina Kalogerakou, her mouth and nose covered by a red bandana as she poured a bucket of water on a burning tree stump.
Another resident, Pantelis Kyriazis, crashed his car as he tried to escape the encroaching flames. “I couldn’t see, I hit a pine tree and this is what happened,” he said, gesturing toward his damaged car and nursing a bleeding elbow.
Warmest winter on record
The southeastern Mediterranean country this year experienced its warmest winter on record and is on track for its hottest-ever summer. Large areas of Greece, including the location of this week’s blaze, have seen little or no rain for months.
Greece is on high fire alert at least until Thursday, with temperatures forecast to reach up to 40 C. Authorities have called for an emergency response involving the army, police and volunteers during that period.
On Sunday, the blaze threw up flames as high as 25 metres and spread “like lightning,” the fire brigade said. By nightfall, thick smoke had darkened the sky over Athens.
The blaze on Monday reached the village of Grammatiko north of Athens, the seaside municipality of Nea Makri and the town of Marathonas. Areas previously under control appeared to be rekindling, said fire brigade spokesperson Vathrakogiannis.
Passenger ferries to the port of Rafina were diverted to Lavrio, southeast of Athens, due to the advancing blaze.
With winds forecast to strengthen further, “we have a very difficult day ahead of us,” Theodore Giannaros, a researcher at the National Observatory of Athens, told state TV ERT.
The blaze reminded residents of a 2018 fire that killed 104 people in the seaside town of Mati, near the capital.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis cut short a holiday on the island of Crete to visit the fire brigade’s operations centre on Monday.
Published at Mon, 12 Aug 2024 09:23:22 +0000