Ukraine is 'bringing war home to Russia,' Zelenskyy says after troops gain '1,000 square kilometres of ground'
13 August 2024, 05:25
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Russia that the war was "coming home" after his troops seized 1,000 square kilometres of border territory.
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Mr Zelenskyy said his forces would "ensure peace" by moving across the border into the Kursk region of Russia, in a move that Vladimir Putin has blasted as "a provocation".
Over 100,000 people have been forced to flee the region and part of the neighbouring Belgorod region because of the dangers posed by the military incursion to civilians.
Mr Zelenskyy said: "Russia brought war to others, now it’s coming home.
"Ukraine has always wanted only peace, and we will certainly ensure peace.”
Read more: Ukraine now controls 1,000sq km of Russian territory, officials say
Putin has vowed to "kick the enemy out of our territory" and said the incursion would not distract from Russia's own war aims in Ukraine, which it invaded two and a half years ago.
He said Kyiv aimed to "intimidate society and to undermine stability", adding that the incursion was an attempt by Ukraine "with the help of its western masters” to gain a bargaining chip in future peace talks.
The incursion marks the first time a Russian leader has ceded territory to a foreign invader since the Second World War.
Around 121,000 people have been evacuated from the Kursk region with another 59,000 told to leave following the advancement that has left Moscow “severely embarrassed.”
Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 18 miles (30km) inside Russia making this the deepest incursion since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Some 11,000 people have now been evacuated from the Krasnoyaruzhsky district in Russia's Belgorod region with just 500 residents remaining.
Matthew Savill, military sciences director at the Royal United Services Institute, said Russia has been "severely embarrassed".
"The loss of territory and evacuation of civilians will play poorly back in Russia as evidence they 'can't defend themselves'," he added.
Putin said: "It's obvious that the enemy will keep trying to destabilise the situation in the border zone to try to destabilise the domestic political situation in our country".
Putin said Ukraine had failed in its aim to destabilise Russia though and that Moscow's military must "dislodge" Ukrainian troops from border regions.
He previously described the move by Kyiv as a "large-scale provocation" that involved the "indiscriminate shelling of civilian buildings, residential houses and ambulances."
One of Putin’s governors accused Ukraine of chemical weapon use during the invasion - though it is unclear if he has provided any evidence.
Both countries have accused one another and reported allegations of use of chemical weapons during the war.
Mr Zelenskyy spoke on the invasion for the first time over the weekend, saying that Russia deserved a "fair" response following its launch of nearly 2,000 cross-border strikes at Ukraine's Sumy region in recent months.
