Russia battles Ukrainian incursion near major gas transmission hub in southern border

Russia said on Wednesday it was fighting intense battles against Ukrainian forces that had penetrated its southern border near a major natural gas transmission hub, in one of the largest incursions into Russian territory since the war began.

The acting governor of Kursk region, Alexey Smirnov, said he had introduced a state of emergency in the border region, though it was unclear what measures that entailed.

Russia's health ministry said 31 civilians, including six children, had been wounded. No information on military casualties was available.

Russia's Guard said it had beefed up security around the nearby Kursk nuclear power station and its four reactors.

Russia has advanced this year after the failure of Ukraine's 2023 counteroffensive to achieve any major gains, and has taken 420 square km (162 square miles) of territory from Ukrainian forces since June 14, Russian officials say.

Ukraine struck back on Tuesday and battles continued through the night into Wednesday as Ukrainian forces pushed to the northwest of the border town of Sudzha, 530 km (330 miles) southwest of Moscow, Russia's defence ministry said.

"The Kyiv regime has launched another major provocation," President Vladimir Putin told members of the Russian government, referring to the attack in Kursk region.

The chief of Russia's general staff, Valery Gerasimov, told Putin that Russian forces had halted a thrust by up to 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers - more than three times the figure that Russia's defence ministry had stated on Tuesday - and would push them back to the border.

"The enemy's advance deep into territory in the Kursk direction was stopped by the actions of the units covering the state border together with border guards and reinforcement units, with airstrikes, missile and artillery fire," Gerasimov said in televised comments.

The Ukrainian military appears to have adopted a strategy of strict silence.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in his nightly video address on Wednesday made no reference to the attack, while exhorting Kyiv's soldiers to press on and weaken Russian forces.

"It's important to keep on destroying the enemy as effectively and steadfastly as our soldiers can to help the defence of our country ...," Zelenskiy said.

Ukraine's General Staff also made no acknowledgment in its daily battlefield update, but said Russia had stepped up the use of warplanes against Ukraine’s Sumy region across the border.

In Washington, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States was in contact with Ukrainian authorities about their actions in Kursk region.

He said U.S. rules on Ukrainian use of U.S. weapons - authorised in areas over the Russian border - remained in effect but that Ukraine's actions were "not a violation of our policy".

GAS TRANSIT

There was fighting around Sudzha, the last operational trans-shipping point for Russian natural gas to Europe via Ukraine. The Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod pipeline carried about 14.65 billion cubic metres of gas in 2023, about half of Russia's gas exports to Europe.

Ukraine's gas transmission operator said Russian natural gas was transiting to European consumers normally. Just 60 kilometres to the northeast lies the Kursk nuclear power station.

The battles around Sudzha come at a crucial juncture in the conflict, the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two. Ukraine is losing territory and Kyiv is deeply concerned that U.S. support could drop off if Donald Trump wins the November presidential election.

Trump has said he would end the war, so both Russia and Ukraine are keen to gain the strongest possible bargaining position on the battlefield. Ukraine wants to pin down Russian forces and show the West it can still mount major battles.

KURSK BATTLES

Russian military bloggers depicted the situation in Kursk region as more serious than the official accounts, with some suggesting that Ukraine had opened a new front. Russia has sent reserves to help shore up its defences.

Some bloggers suggested that Ukraine might be planning an advance on the Kursk nuclear plant.

Gerasimov said Russia had inflicted heavy losses on the Ukrainian attackers in terms of men and equipment, giving figures that Reuters was unable to independently verify.

Putin said Ukrainian forces were firing "indiscriminately" at a range of civilian targets in the region.

Both Kyiv and Moscow say they do not target civilians in the war, triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russian Telegram channels carried unverified footage of shelled houses.

Forces describing themselves as voluntary paramilitaries fighting on Ukraine's side penetrated parts of Kursk and the adjacent Belgorod region earlier this year, triggering a push by Russian troops to set up a buffer zone in Ukraine's northeast.