AFP: Ukrainian incursion aims to inflict ‘maximum losses’ and ‘destabilise’ Russia

The main aim of the ongoing Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s southwestern Kursk region is to “destabilise” Russia, AFP reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed Ukrainian security official who said that “thousands” of Ukrainian troops were participating in the growing cross-border incursion.

The official said that the aim of the operation was to “inflict maximum losses and to destabilise the situation in Russia”, adding that the operation had “greatly raised” the morale of the Ukrainian military, as well as Ukrainian society as a whole, to whom it was demonstrating that Ukraine could “go on the offensive, move forward”.

Noting, however, that the incursion had not meant that Russian troops were being redeployed from the main front line in eastern Ukraine, even if “the intensity of Russian attacks” had lessened there, the official assured AFP that Ukrainian troops would “respect international law” and that Kyiv had no plans to annex the areas they currently hold.

The official also guaranteed that Ukrainian troops would not “cause problems for nuclear security”, but did not clarify if occupying the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant was one of the incursion’s objectives, saying only: “We will see how the Kursk operation will develop”.

As the unprecedented Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region entered its sixth day on Sunday, Ukrainian forces continued to expand its control of Russian territory, reportedly entering the region’s Belovsky district, to the south of the Sudzha district where fighting has been concentrated for much of the week.

While there are conflicting reports about the situation on the ground, hostilities in the region are reportedly continuing and thousands of residents are attempting to evacuate the region. Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told state news agency TASS on Sunday that 106 civilians had been injured in the Kursk region since the Ukrainian incursion started on Tuesday, 69 of whom required hospital treatment.