KYIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday described a Ukrainian incursion into the country’s southwestern Kursk region as a “large-scale provocation” as his officials asserted that they were fighting off cross-border raids for a second day. Ukrainian officials remained quiet about the scope of the operation.
Putin told Cabinet officials he would meet with top defense and security officials to discuss what he called the “indiscriminate shelling of civilian buildings, residential houses, ambulances with different types of weapons.” He instructed the Cabinet to coordinate assistance to the Kursk region.
The head of the 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 Gov. Alexei Smirnov said on Telegram, adding that all emergency services were on high alert.
The Ukrainian shelling killed at least two people — a paramedic and an ambulance driver — and injured 24, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
Smirnov said authorities had evacuated more than 200 people from areas under shelling, while several thousand others left in their own vehicles.
If confirmed, the cross-border foray would be among Ukraine’s largest since Russia‘s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and unprecedented for its deployment of Ukrainian military units.
Kyiv’s aim could…
