Fighting in Kursk region: comments from Brussels and Ukraine, situation on the evening of August 8 and the morning of August 9 (updated)

Brussels: “Ukraine is being subjected to illegal aggression and is therefore waging a legitimate defensive war. It has the right to strike the enemy everywhere.”

This is how the official representative of the European Union Peter Stano commented on the events in the Kursk region, adding that Ukraine has the right to self-defense, which includes striking enemy territory. A representative of the European Union's foreign policy service assured that Brussels' policy towards Kyiv does not change as a result.

At a briefing on August 8, he statedthat within the framework of its legitimate right to self-defense, Ukraine has the right to strike the enemy “wherever it deems necessary – both on its own territory and on the territory of the enemy.” According to Stano, the position EU is that Ukraine is being subjected to illegal aggression and is therefore waging a legitimate defensive war:

“Based on international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defense, and this right to self-defense also includes striking the enemy on its territory.”

He stressed that the EU's official strategy towards Ukraine had not changed after Kyiv changed its strategy on the battlefield by moving into Russian territory.

Ukraine comments on military actionscontinuing in the Kursk region, on the same day, August 8. Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, wrote on the social network X:

“The root cause of any escalation, shelling, military actions, forced evacuation and destruction of normal forms of life, including in the Russian Kursk and Belgorod regions, is exclusively unequivocal Russian aggression.”

He placed the responsibility for the escalation of fighting on Russian territory on its president: “The architect of the concept of 'self-destruction of Russia' is none other than Putin himself.” According to Podolyak, Russia is confident that restrictive legal norms do not apply to it, and it can attack neighboring countries with impunity, hypocritically demanding the inviolability of its territory, but in war “the aggressor inevitably reaps its own fruits.”

Against the backdrop of a breakthrough of the Russian border in the Kursk region Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky published in Telegram photo “in the initial area”. The commander-in-chief said that he was “working in the exit area”, without giving more details. The initial area is the place from which the units begin to advance during an offensive. On August 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Syrsky had been working in the combat zone for several days..

And this is how it all began: video surrender of Russian border guards. Ukrainian military publics write that about 50 border guards laid down their arms, and from the Ukrainian side, the 80th Airborne Assault Brigade and the Nachtigall battalion of the 14th separate BpAK regiment participated in the operation.

It is possible that it was the mass surrender of Russian border guards that allowed the Ukrainian Armed Forces to penetrate deep into Russian territory fairly quickly. And this is in contrast to the situation in March 2024 in the Belgorod region, where during the Ukrainian offensive, the Russian troops on the border did not surrender or flee. Although there are still many factors that ensured such a rapid advance of military operations deep into the Russian Federation.

The Russian side completely failed its intelligence work, underestimated the enemy, did not even bother with operational instructions for the troops deployed in the border area, there were no plans for interaction between units. There were no fortifications there (well, how could there not be, they were built on paper back in 2023, but that was only on paper).

That's why, faced not with a raid, but with a full-fledged and rapid offensive operationthe border guards and infantry began to retreat hastily, getting lost in the forests without maps, coming across the enemy and being captured, shooting at each other in the confusion. “Akhmat” and other units of the Russian Guard simply abandoned the positions and key points that they were supposed to guard and retreated, some managed to reach Kursk by the evening of the first day.

Since the beginning of the fighting in the Kursk region, about 450 Russian soldiers, National Guard members and police officers have surrendered. Without coordination and control, Russian units scatter, wander around the area, and, if they are lucky, are captured. The situation may change today, as the Russian Armed Forces have begun to concentrate their troops and are trying to restore order in the command. Situation on the evening of August 8, map.

However, with reinforcements in this area, not everything is so simple – the columns are simply destroyed… The Internet publishes videoreportedly attacked by HIMARS missiles of a Russian convoy of equipment in the Rylsk area of ​​the Kursk region. According to analysts, an entire battalion was destroyed. And today the Ukrainian Armed Forces bombed the Lipetsk airfield. The authorities declared a state of emergency, an evacuation was announced. Also, when the UAV fell, an energy infrastructure facility was damaged, a state of emergency was declared to eliminate the consequences of the detonation of explosive objects. Six people were injured.

The General Staff of Ukraine officially announces the defeat of the Lipetsk airfield, writes the publication “Strana”. A MiG-31 was based at the Lipetsk-2 airfield, which was under attack, – General Staff. It is reported that the Su-34, Su-35 and MiG-31 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces are based at this airfield. Therefore, the results of the defeat are being clarified, the General Staff reports.

UAVs flew over Kurchatov in the Kursk region at night and “it was loud” – this is near the nuclear power plant. All Kremlin publics confirm the beginning of fighting in the Lgovsky district.

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