Zelensky announces Ukrainian forces have fully captured Russia's Sudzha
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Thursday that Ukrainian troops have fully taken control of Sudzha, marking it as the largest Russian town to come under Ukrainian control since the beginning of their cross-border incursion over a week ago, News.Az reports citing Los Angeles Times.
Although it only had a prewar population of around 5,000 people, Sudzha is the administrative center for the border area of Russia’s Kursk region and is larger than any of the other towns or settlements that Ukraine says its forces have taken since the incursion began Aug. 6.Zelensky said Ukraine’s military was setting up a command office in Sudzha, which suggests that Ukraine might plan to remain in the Kursk region long-term — or just signal Moscow that it may intend to do so. He didn’t elaborate on what functions the office might handle, though he said earlier that Ukraine would be distributing humanitarian aid to Sudzha residents in need.
Russia didn’t immediately respond to Zelensky’s claims, but its defense ministry said earlier Thursday that Russian forces had blocked Ukrainian attempts to take several other communities.
The surprise Ukrainian incursion has reframed the war and caused chaos in the Kursk region, leading to the evacuation of more than 120,000 civilians, according to Russian authorities, and the capture of at least 100 Russian troops, according to Kyiv.
Zelensky has said one of the reasons for the incursion was to protect neighboring Ukrainian regions. “The more Russian military presence is destroyed in the border regions, the closer peace and real security will be for our state. The Russian state must be responsible for what it has done,” he said Tuesday.
Russia has seen previous raids of its territory in the war, but the Kursk incursion is notable for its size, speed, the reported involvement of battle-hardened Ukrainian brigades, and the length of time they have stayed inside Russia. As many as 10,000 Ukrainian troops are involved, according to Western military analysts. It’s the first time foreign troops have invaded and held Russian territory since Nazi Germany did in World War II.
Although Russian military bloggers report that Russian reserves sent to the Kursk region have slowed Ukrainian advances, questions remain over whether the incursion might force Moscow to move troops to Kursk from front-line positions in eastern Ukraine, where they’ve made slow but steady advances this year.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that Russia had withdrawn some forces, including infantry units, from Ukraine and was shifting them to Kursk, but that the U.S. didn’t know how many troops were involved.
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